There are so many things people say about Mother Nature. “Connecting with nature”, “Nature is unforgiving”, “Nature is healing”, “Don’t mess with mother nature”, and many more. Tell us one you’ve heard in the comments at the end.
These things, true or not, represent some lessons people have learned by observing or experiencing nature, first-hand.
If you are interested in Agriculture and farming like I am, you may probably have made observations of your own about mother nature. My case, is different. Almost crazy.
As a young person, I lack experience in so many things. So, my leverage is education. I use the experience of others to build my own.
After spending a few months researching and writing about the science of how plants grow, I became so obsessed and extremely curious about “how nature does farming”.
So, I pushed myself to looking for materials and sourse. Reading, watching videos, and re-reading texts. Until I formed some perspective. But, I want you to read it too, and add something you have learned about mother nature and soil fertility.
Come along. I promise, it is worth your precious time.
The most important component of agriculture is the Soil. The way you manage soil, specifically soil fertility, determines the success of your agricultural practice.
“The preservation of soil fertility is the first condition of any permanent system of Agriculture.” ~ Sir Albert Howard, 1940.
Anyone who has visited the forest or any natural woodland knows for a fact that nature is the best in maintaining soil fertility. The forests are full of trees and animals in multiple, diverse species.
If you take a small piece of forest land, say 100-by-100 metres (100m2), it is full of life. And not just trees and animals. We are talking about vegetations in their highest quality. Beautiful, and rich in produce.
If you have had the honor to taste fruits from the forest, they are nothing like the fruits we buy from the market. Wild fruits can only be compared to eating from the Garden of Eden. They are rich in taste and color, and ridiculously nutritious.
So, how does nature manage to produce such quality produce?
Forests do not need fertilizers. No tillage. No irrigation. No technology. Just raw, pure nature.
On the other hand, our farms have advanced technologies, fertilizers, workers, more fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, manure, big machinery, government advisors, and more. Yet, Not Enough!
What Are We Missing?
Have you ever seen a forest with only one type of trees? Only man-made forests have on type of trees. And they are terrible.
The other day I was telling friends about how the government planted the same type of trees and destroyed a forest in our village.
So, the government undertook the initiative to restore the forest. Atleast that is what they told us. The catch, they planted a forest of cypress trees. (I am talking about Geta Forest, part of the Abardares in North Kinangop).
What is wrong with cypress? Well, if you plant cypress 2-3 metres apart, when those trees are tall enough, no vegetation will grow under. That part of the forest is now like a barren land. No grass, no vegetation, and many patches of bare soils. This is a clear illustration of humans failing where nature succeeds almost effortless.
Visit any natural forest. Mixed farming is the rule. What you observe is breath-taking. Sir Albert Howard put this very beautifully:
He said, “plants are always found with animals: many species of plants and of animals all live together. In the forest every form of animal life, from mammals to the simplest invertebrates, occurs. The vegetable kingdom exhibits a similar range: there is never any attempt at monoculture: mixed crops and mixed farming are the rule.”
There must be something about mixed farming that makes it so beneficial and powerful. In Mixed farming, every plant and each animal has a role to play. From pest management and soil fertility, to soil structure and water management, it is a matter of interdependence.
Forest soil is never exposed to direct sunlight, wind, or rainfall. There is always cover vegetation below the long tropical trees, and beautiful grasslands to protect the soil.
Two main layers of soil cover can be observed in the forest. The first layer and the first line of protection is the branches and leaves of the trees. These absorb the sun energy and breakdown rain drops into small particles.
The second layer of protection is the plant litter, grass, and animal remains on top of the soil. These absorb any impact that passes through the first layer.
So, the forest is excellent at protecting the soil. There is a lesson for farmers here. The use of cover crops.
In most cases, we only plant on crop in the farm. Also, we maintain a significant distance between one crop and the other. This gives room to the sun, the wind, and the rain (not forgetting birds and insects) to act directly on our soils. As a result, our soil is exposed to diseases, pests, and erosion.
What if we used cover crops? Would that not protect the soil? Would that preserve fertility and water in the soil?
Forest soil excell in retaining water. Why? Because of existence of maximum pore space. The pore space is the little space between soil particles that develops soil structure.
Earthworms, burrowing animals, and decomposing humus (organic matter or remains of living things) in the soil, are responsible of developing the pore space. A healthy soil is easily determined it’s soil structure.
The pore space is improved by encouraging micro-organisms in the soil. The forest is rich in humus from decomposing remains of plants and animals which encourage microorganisms like earthworms in the soil.
The rich soil structure is not only perfect for aeration, but allows soil to absorb water slowly through the pore spaces.
Excess water is passed to subsoil and later to streams and rivers.
“The forest manures itself.” ~ Albert Howard.
If we observe any part of the forest, we see a mixture of animal and vegetable remains collecting on the ground. Eventually, these remains decompose and become a part of the soil.
When leaves and other parts of the plants fall on the ground, and when the animals die, their remains start to decompose on the soil surface. This decomposition results from bacteria and fungi.
The remains are decomposed to become humus. This humus is the foundation of soil fertility. Therefore, the forest manures itself through creating humus from the remains of living things.
Additionally, minerals deep in the soil are transported to the top soil through the roots of the trees. In farming, we add minerals such as phosphate directly into the soil. In the forest, trees with deep roots will absorb phosphates from deep soil levels, transport the minerals to the leaves, and when the leaves fall of from the tree, they become available to the top soils.
We observe two key points in relation to soil fertility in the forest:
1). A constant circulation of the mineral matter absorbed by the trees;
2). a constant addition of new mineral matter from the vast reserves held in the subsoil.
In nature, plants and animals take care of themselves. In forests, no spraying of herbicides and pesticides to control invasive plants and pests.
So, does this mean there are no pests and diseases in the forest? Absolutely not.
Nature allows everything to grow. But during this growth, plants develop new ways to eliminate the diseases and pests. This is achieved through evolution of new characteristics that isolate the diseases or the affected parts, and the disease is left to die.
Similarly, plants release chemicals that attract insects, birds, or other animals that feed on the invasive pests.
So, the plants and animals of the forest, take care of themselves.
Sir Alber Summarizes the nature methods of farming as follows:
“Mother earth never attempts to farm without live stock; she always raises mixed crops; great pains are taken to preserve the soil and to prevent erosion; the mixed vegetable and animal wastes are converted into humus; there is no waste; the processes of growth and the processes of decay balance one another; ample provision is made to maintain large reserves of fertility; the greatest care is taken to store the rainfall; both plants and animals are left to protect themselves against disease.”
Based on the above five lessons, we can ask ourselves three questions:
As we reflect on these questions and the lessons from mother nature, I hope we can borrow some, if not all, into our farming practices.
I hope we can work with mother nature, and not against her.
This way, we can solve food security through sustainable and eco-friendly agricultural practices in the world.
What method do you see yourself or people you know using in farming?
Let me know in the comments.
See you in the next one.
Shukran.