Mahangu farmers urged to use biochar as fertiliser

A Namibian agricultural expert has called on communal farmers to use biochar in their mahangu fields to enhance soil and produce more food.

Axel Rathouge of AgriConsult Namibia says most communal farmers lack resources, and their mahangu fields are planted in sandy soil which is leached away by rain.

Rathouge says one of the best ways to organically enhance soil to produce more food is to apply biochar to crops’ root zones.

Rathouge says biochar has the tremendous capacity to hold water and plant nutrients.

“Communal farmers collect small pieces of waste wood from their fields, which can be burned and placed into furrows of mahangu fields to enhance the soil,” he says.

Rathouge says applying fertilisers and manure is labour intensive, and there is often a lack of animal manure in communal areas.

Rathouge advises communal farmers to plant bushes at the end of their mahangu fields to prevent wind erosion in winter.

These bushes can also be eaten by animals during drier periods.

The agriculture expert bemoans the lack of information available for communal farmers.

“If we want to improve productivity, we must focus on horizontal improvements.

“Vertical improvements involve making farming more efficient – producing more with less. We cannot continue consuming land and forests, leaving our children nothing,” Rathouge says.

Communal areas are currently largely “in a disastrous arry of conditions, compared to commercial areas”.

He says communal farmers need to have access to markets as well as efficient agricultural advice, which is currently not available.