Farming Interest - Kale Cultivation

It takes a long time to learn agricultural methods in another culture. Brother Adolfo had time this afternoon to help me speak with Valence, the gardener. Brother’s English is quite good but we have trouble understanding each other. The way that Africans pronounce English words and the way that I pronounce them are quite different. It really is true that I say toMAYto and they say tomahto. If we spend enough time patiently listening to each other, we can communicate in English.

Valence showed me the ‘garden’. They wisely grow plants in layered high density plantings. The top layer is banana or mahogany or mango. In some places the lower layer is coffee but on this farm they are growing kale. Yes, the trendy CSA vegetable that so many people in the U.S. adore or despise. Kale truly is a superfood. It grows in many conditions and is full of nutrition. It is cooked with the beans and served to the school students every day. I have also eaten it each day that I have been here. The Swahili name for kale is ‘skumawik’ and it is a different variety than we have. One time I grew Ethopian kale and I think that this is similar.

The kale is started from seed and then transplanted into 3x6 foot beds at 10 inch spacing. The beds are hilled on each side and connected by a series of channels. Two weeks after planting, they spread a layer of chicken manure in the bed. One week after that the beds are weeded. The leaves are harvested after 6-8 weeks and can continue growing for 8 months or more. Additional manure is applied and the plants will grow up to 6 feet tall. The kale plants produce suckers around the base of the stem. These suckers are broken off and used to propagate new plantings. They do this by pushing the sucker directly into another bed and waiting for roots to form. This makes it very inexpensive to grow these plants as long as they have enough water. Since this is the hot, dry time of the year, the kale would be worth a lot of money if they sold it.

In order to irrigate, the channels are flooded. The water must flow to one bed at a time so Valence must open and close waterways all day in order to irrigate the kale. Since it is so hot and dry at this time of the year, he must do this at least twice a week. They have almost 2 acres of kale growing right now and it is the only vegetable that they are harvesting in large quantities. The watermelon patch is also growing and will be harvested in February.

There are several insect pests that harm the kale. Grasshoppers eat the leaves. Aphids and whiteflies grow under the leaves and ruin them. Aphids and whiteflies are also present in the U.S. In the summer months, they are controlled by rainfall and ladybugs. In Africa they are also not as bad when the rains come. But during the hot, dry periods these insects are very harmful. Several insecticides are used to control these insects – cypermethrin, imidacloprid, and chlorpyrifos. A Chinese company, Hangzhou Agrochemical Ltd., manufactures these products. I am not familiar with these chemicals since I do not use chemical sprays on my fields. Valence claims to be using them according to the instructions. After spraying, people are not supposed to reenter the field for three days and there should be a 14 day wait before harvest. I am not able to verify if this is what actually happens. I know that Valence was spraying something yesterday and we were in the same field today.

At the same time the insecticide is sprayed, Valence sprays a foliar fertilizer. The product is Easy Gro and it is made by Osho Chem. It is a 27:10:16 that contains trace elements. The numbers refer to the
ratio of nitrogen to phosphate to potassium. I was not able to learn how often this is sprayed because I was told that the insecticides are used as needed and the foliar spray is used with the insecticide. Knowing that the foliar spray is used helps me to understand how such nice looking kale can grow from the soil that I tested. After doing the test and discovering the lack of phosphorus, I did not think that such vigorous kale could grow using only a layer of chicken manure. The foliar fertilizer and the insecticide allows them to get a good yield and to feed the students.

Organic farmers use other methods to achieve similar results. We insist that the long term soil health must be addressed in ways that simply using chemical fertilizers cannot. We seek safer ways to produce food by avoiding chemicals. Tomorrow I will start a trial that will attempt to control the aphids and whiteflies using a spray made with soap and boiled neem leaves. This spray does not work in the same way as an insecticide because it does not kill the insects. Neem has been studied for many years and scientists are still not sure exactly how it works. It seems to confuse the reproductive cycles of the pests and if they do not reproduce their overall population decreases. I do not want to insist on discontinuing the use of chemicals because the farm must produce a harvest. I will suggest some alternative methods and consider what practices can be added to address the long term soil health.

It takes time and effort to create a healthy ecosystem in the soil capable of producing high yielding crops without the use of chemical fertilizers and insecticides. Certain areas of the world are able to do this easily for a period of time. For example, the U.S. has some of the most fertile soil in the world in the great plains. The topsoil is deep and full of minerals. Other areas of the world must rely on fertilizer if they want to increase yields. Maybe my project will provide some assistance toward increasing yields by building the soil fertility.