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What is conservation agriculture? Farmers are increasingly adopting conservation agriculture practices. This sustainable farming method is based on three principles: crop diversification, minimal soil movement, and permanent soil cover. By  Abdulkaremathey March 28, 2021. If not practiced sustainably, agriculture can have a toll on the environment, produce greenhouse gases and contribute to climate change. However, sustainable farming methods can do the opposite — increase resilience to climate change, protect biodiversity and sustainably use natural resources. One of these methods is conservation agriculture. Conservation agriculture conserves natural resources, biodiversity, and labor. It increases available soil water, reduces heat and drought stress, and builds up soil health in the longer term. What are the principles of conservation agriculture? Conservation agriculture  is based on the interrelated principles of minimal mechanical soil disturbance, permanent soil cover with livi

Farmers in southwestern Somalia harvest unripe cereals to beat locust invasion. Small farmers in the southwestern Somali district of Baidoa have been rushing to harvest their precious cereal crops prematurely in an effort to salvage what they can before everything is destroyed by locusts. Sadiya Maadey Ibrahim, a farmer living with her family in Salbuuy, 18 km south of Baidoa, said as soon as she heard that the locusts were seen in Bay region, she moved fast to harvest her hectare of maize and sorghum early. “The maize was still green, as it wasn’t due to be harvested until the end of February, but we were forced to salvage what we could,” Sadiya told us. These were the first crops the family has planted in five years. Having suffered years of drought, she and her husband and eight children came back home to the village last October when there was good rainfall. They had been living in an IDP camp in Baidoa town called Liban 1 camp, where life was miserable. “We were given two million

SORGHUM 1. Introduction: Ø   Benefits of sorghum Ø   Ecological requirements Sorghum is adapted to a wide range of environmental conditions and will produce significant yields under conditions that are unfavorable for most other cereals. Sorghum is particularly adapted to drought. Sorghum also tolerates waterlogging and can be grown in areas of high rainfall. It is, however , primarily a plant of hot, semi-arid tropical environments with rainfall from 250 mm that are too dry for maize but performs best with more than 900 mm annually. It is also grown widely in temperate regions and at altitudes of up to 2500 m in the tropics. Sorghum tolerates a wide range of temperatures. Sterility can occur when night temperatures fall below 12-15 deg C during the flowering period. Sorghum is killed by frost. Sorghum can be grown successfully on a wide range of soil types. It is well suited to heavy clay soils (vertisols) found commonly in the tropics, where its  tolerance  to waterlogging is