Organic fertiliser, biological pest control, chemical-free growing and safe food production.
OrganicFish can be raised in a pond without chemical fertiliser, pesticide or synthetic feed. A sunny, flood-free pond, natural food grown with manure and compost, carp stocked in layers and home remedies of neem, garlic and turmeric make it work, and buyers pay more for the result.
OrganicDung, poultry litter, straw, vegetable peel and fallen leaves need not be burned or dumped: they can become compost and vermicompost. How to choose the site, build the layers, keep moisture and heat right, turn the heap and apply it, and what it does for the soil and the farmer's costs.
OpinionSeriti Institute's farm programme lead says the hub near Durban trained 697 people and 171 farmers, but its real test is what farmers, cooperatives and markets can keep going once the partners leave.
OrganicSaju Mondol of Rajarhat, Kurigram, has made vermicompost with red worms for four years for his own fields; he expects about 12 maunds this year and wants training and support to sell it.
A 50 kg bag of the state-owned sugar company's Sonar Dana organic fertiliser costs Tk 900, while farmers are paying Tk 2,500 to 3,000 for a bag of chemical fertiliser.
VegetablesA two-year field study in Georgia found that poultry-based soil amendments and extreme weather affect how long E. coli persists in soils used to grow sweet onions.
Rooftop farmingGarlic can be grown organically in pots in a garden, on a balcony or on a roof: plant cloves in October-November, mulch and water with care, and lift the bulbs at the end of summer.
AgrotechSpeakers at the World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit in London said biocontrols and biofertilisers will succeed by working reliably alongside existing crop programmes, while Europe's slow approvals hold the sector back.
CropsThe second edition of Cover Crops: Improving Soil Health, Stewardship and Profitability on the Farm adds new chapters and the experience of 12 farmers, and can be read free online.
OrganicAt the Chico State University Farm, finished compost is agitated in aerated water and the extract is sent through drip irrigation to support soil fungi and bacteria.
CropsProfessor Paul Teng of Singapore's ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute says ASEAN has a regenerative agriculture framework but no system that brings crop loss, insurance and finance together for its 100 million farmers.
Yellow and blue sticky traps are a non-toxic way to control aphids, whiteflies and sucking pests; agriculture workers put their cost at Tk 7,000-8,000 a hectare against Tk 30,000-40,000 for pesticide.
OrganicRed River Métis rancher Tyler Lee of Mossy Rock Cattle Company near Amaranth, Manitoba, moved to zero-till and legume-based regenerative practices in 2019; a hay field that once gave six bales produced about 190 last year.
CropsThe National Cover Crop Variety Testing Program compared commercial varieties of six fall-planted cover crops across 13 US sites; at the New York site cereal rye ND Gardner gave the most spring biomass.
OrganicIn Whole Earth Farming, Hugh Locke proposes helping 240 million smallholder families adopt regenerative agriculture and agroforestry, citing yield gains of about 40 percent among members of his Haiti farmers' alliance.
