Indonesian farmers befriend soil to protect harvests

n early 2016, when fellow farmers were despairing over plummeting yields linked to a major drought, Hamdi was busy harvesting maize from his land.

He got 5.6 tonnes instead of the usual 4 tonnes from his one-hectare plot despite living in West Nusa Tenggara, one of Indonesia’s driest provinces where agriculture is at the mercy of extreme weather.

“El Nino did not affect those practising conservation agriculture, but those who weren’t suffered a lot,” the 38-year-old said in Pemongkong village on Lombok island.

Hamdi was among the first in his village to adopt the natural farming method in October 2015, just before El Nino hit.

Lombok farmers who practised conservation agriculture were more resilient to the effects of El Nino, harvesting 70 per cent more than those using traditional methods, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

“Conservation agriculture is about renewing the life of the soil,” said John Weatherson, an advisor to the FAO. “It’s about stabilising yield so when the shocks come, the farmers are sitting pretty.”

In conservation agriculture, soil disturbance is kept to a minimum, using permanent planting holes fertilised with compost instead of chemicals. The soil surface is covered with crop residues as mulch, and farmers rotate crops or inter-crop between cereals and legumes.

These practices help reduce erosion and water run-off, and increase soil fertility and crop yields, experts say.

Pemongkong villagers, who have tried the method for two planting seasons, say yields have risen. Alongside lower costs for fertilisers and labour, they have more money in their hands.

In Indonesia, growing nutritious plants as cover crops has improved the diets of Pemongkong villagers, with many now eating long beans, soya beans and mung beans regularly.

Saimah, 50, a rake-thin farmer whose two-hectare plot was affected by El Nino, used to have just one meal a day, but her crop yield has nearly doubled with conservation agriculture.

“Now we eat eggs regularly and meat once a month. I can finally have savings,” she said.

The FAO partnered with the Indonesian Agency for Agricultural Research and Development, and used demonstration plots to show farmers the new approach.

It has now been taken up by nearly 13,000 farmers, and the FAO is working with the Indonesian government to incorporate it into national agricultural policy, it agency said. — Thomson Reuters Foundation