Using locally available fertilisers to enhance the yields of swidden farmers in Papua New Guinea

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F60076658%3A12310%2F21%3A43902957" target="_blank" >RIV/60076658:12310/21:43902957 - isvavai.cz</a>

Alternative codes found

RIV/60077344:_____/21:00545544 RIV/00216208:11310/21:10436618

Result on the web

<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308521X21000421?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" >https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308521X21000421?via%3Dihub</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2021.103089" target="_blank" >10.1016/j.agsy.2021.103089</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Using locally available fertilisers to enhance the yields of swidden farmers in Papua New Guinea

Original language description

Context: Swidden agriculture (a type of small-scale agriculture) is crucial to the livelihood and food security of millions of people in tropical regions. Social-ecological changes, including population growth and anti-swidden policies, are putting pressure on the existing swidden system to increase agricultural productivity in a sustainable way. Enhancing soil fertility is a promising option for increasing crop yields and extending lifetimes of agricultural fields, thereby reducing the demand to clear new land. However, there is limited information on how swidden farmers can best maintain soil fertility. Objective: Our aim was to investigate whether using locally available fertilisers can increase soil quality, crop yields and lifetimes of swidden fields. Methods: We established experimental gardens on the land of swidden farmers in the Lowlands of Papua New Guinea, where the majority of the population depends on swidden agriculture. Gardens were set up on two types of sites; five were established on new sites that had just been prepared for gardening by cutting and burning vegetation after a fallow period, whereas another five were prepared on garden sites that were just being fallowed. We applied three treatments; i) compost consisting of decaying banana peels, ii) chicken manure, and iii) NPK fertiliser to different plots within each garden; and tracked soil quality and yields of sweet potato over 12 months (three post-intervention cropping periods). We also conducted in-depth interviews with local farmers to understand their perspective on soil management. Results and conclusions: Few farmers typically used compost, chicken manure or NPK fertiliser. Many were keen to try these fertilisers, provided they had more information. The performance of treatments depended on the type of garden with chicken manure increasing tuber yields in fallowed gardens but not new gardens, and banana peel compost also increasing tuber yields in fallowed gardens although not significantly. NPK fertiliser was the best option because it was the only fertiliser that increased yields in both new and fallowed gardens, produced tubers of similar quality and taste to control plots and was financially profitable. Treatments affected yield through increasing available nitrogen and reducing soil moisture. We also found that farmers fallow their gardens despite adequate sweet potato yields, so whether using fertilisers can enhance the lifetime of fields will depend on additional factors such as labour input needed. Significance: Our work shows how swidden agriculture can potentially be adapted so that it continues to be a sustainable way of farming and living.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

10618 - Ecology

Project

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Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2021

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Agricultural Systems

ISSN

0308-521X

e-ISSN

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Volume of the periodical

192

Issue of the periodical within the volume

AUG 2021

Country of publishing house

GB - UNITED KINGDOM

Number of pages

22

Pages from-to

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UT code for WoS article

000691553600010

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85108085301