■ Compost
Just as the Bokashi manure the compost plays a role not only to supply nutrition which is indispensable for crops, but to improve the soil physics as well.
The number of bacteria is one of the factors to judge the level of richness of the soil. That is to say, soil with a large number of bacteria accelerates decomposition of organic materials to produce a lot of small vacant spaces contributing to the development of the main roots of the crops.
On one hand the organic fertilizer is very effective to improve the physics as well as chemistry of the soil, and with lasting effects. On the other hand, the chemical fertilizer has an immediate effect when applied, but with a drawback to accumulate the bases of each chemical substance deteriorating both the physics and chemistry of the soil.
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Dead leaves and grasses are added to the excrement of the livestock to make them ferment.
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To accelerate fermentation, sprinkle the waste liquid from cooking palm fruits
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● Cultivation test with upland rice using organic fertilizer
It is said that the rice cultivation became popular in Guinea after the Guinean people found it delicious with the one the French government imported from Indo-China (present Vietnam) after World War II to mitigate the food shortage. However, most of the cultivated species are the upland rice, and the paddy rice, which is popular in Asia, occupies less than 10% of the whole rice cultivation area.
As the object of the cultivation test, we chose native species widely cultivated in the Sanawaria village where the training center exists. We divided the test cultivation area of 256 ㎡ (16m x 16m) into 4 blocks by the kind of fertilizer:
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| 1. | Both compost and Bokash |
| 2. | Bokashi only |
| 3. | Compost only |
| 4. | No fertilizers |
In the test districts 1 and 3, compost of the amount as 2 units of a wheel barrow is plowed in. The spaces for sowing were set as 25cm x 25cm. Seeds were directly sown. In the district 1, additional compost was applied in the course of the test.
Approximately 90% of the seeds germinated in 6 days after the sowing, and started to flower 60 days after the germination. The rice was harvested 97 days after sowing. We researched the amount of harvested rice in each district. By following the local custom, we adapted the method of measuring by capacity, not by weight. We used an empty can of tomato puree (75 ml) to measure the harvested rice. The results were as follows.
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| -Test district 1: Both compost and Bokashi |
21 cans of the rice grains (1,575 ml) |
| -Test district 2: Bokashi only |
19 cans of the rice grains (1,425 ml) |
| -Test district 3: Compost only |
12 cans of the rice grains (900 ml) |
| -Test district 4: No fertilizers |
6 cans of the rice grains (450 ml) |
The amount of harvest was measured by capacity with no problem. The excellence of the organic fertilizer was obvious because the numerical value ratio of the capacity equals the weight ratio. We see the situation of the rice cultivation in the burnt field by the local farmers as same as in the No. 4 test district. The farmers are surprised by the unexpected difference of the harvest amount between their fields and the test districts applied with organic fertilizers.
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TThe district applied with Bokashi and compost to the native species of rice
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The district with no fertilizers applied
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The district applied with Bokashi to the tomatoesr
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The district applied Bokashi and compost to the tomato |
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