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Bio Intensive GardensA climate & nutrition smart agriculture approach

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Credits:• Julian Gonsalves• Irish Baguilat• Emily Monville Oro• Christy Tacugue• Ronnie de CastroIIRR, Silang, Cavite, Philippines 4120

Thanks toIDRC Canada for supporting a program where these concepts were tested on scale in Cavite, Philippines with the Department of Education, Republic of the Philippines.

September 27, 2015

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A climate & nutrition smart agriculture approach

Bio Intensive Gardens

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•Why areBioIntensiveGardensclimateandwatersmart?

•Howcanwemakethemmoreadaptivetoclimatechange?

•Howcanweconservegeneticdiversityofnutritionalimportance?

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• Bio-IntensiveGardens(BIG) isanagroecologicalapproachtogardeningwhichmakesthebestuseofavailablenatural resourceswithnorelianceonanychemicalinputs.

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• Abio-intensivegarden has alowcarbonfootprint because veryfewexternalresourcesareused.

• BIGreliesonlocallyproducedseeds,locallyproducedfertilizerandnochemicalpesticides.Thus,thecarbonfootprintoffoodproducedthis wayissmall.Moreover,thefoodproductsaresafeandfreeofpesticideresidues.

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• Adeepdugbedis essential whenthere arefrequentdroughtsorflooding(12inchesdepthormoreisessentialifyouwanttotrapwaterinthesoil).

• Adeepdugbedconservesrainwaterand,intimesoffloods, draws thewaterdown tothelowerpartofthesoil,out ofreachoftheplantroots.

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• Thebedsarenarrowmakingitpossibletoworkfromthesidestopreventcompaction.

• Thisleavesthe soilalwaysloose.Theslightestrain isabsorbedandstoredinthesoil.

• Bio-IntensiveGardensharvestrainwaterbetterandstoremoisturelonger..

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• Deepdugbedswithloosesoilandlotsoforganicmatter helpto storewater,encourageearthwormsandbeneficialbacteria.ThisisaLIVINGsoilandgetsbettereveryyear(PROVIDEDyoudon’tletitdryupandcompactagaininsummer).

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• Insummerwhenyourgardensaregenerallynotactivelymaintained,theentiregardenshouldgointoacovercropoflegumes(cowpea,ricebean,etc).Thiskeepsthemicrobiallife  aliveandreducesweedgrowthandmostimportantofallkeepsthesoiltemperaturelow.

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• Theplantingoftreesaroundtheperipheryofthegarden(KakawateorGliricidia sepium or Cassia siamea)isanabsolutelyessentialelement.If treesarenotplantedonallfoursides oftheplotthenwedon'tgettheadvantageofthecoolingeffectsofthetrees.Ifyoudon'thavetreesthewindtendstodrythesoil.

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• Green-leafmanuretreesarealsogrownbetweeneverytwosetsofplotstoprovidegreen-leaffertilizer.

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• Theadvantageofusinggreenleavesasfertilizeristhatitisawayofstoringcarboninthesoil.Unlikewhenoneuseschemicalswherewecontributetothegreenhousegases(trees absorbcarbon).

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• Anotherfeatureof BIGisthatitusesmostly indigenousplantspecies. Theseareusuallyhardyandclimateresilient.Climateresilientvarietiesarebeinglostbecausetheyarenotpopularamongstmarket-farmers.

• Theseindigenousheritagevarietiesarestillaroundandpasseddownfromonegenerationtoanother.Theymustbesavedbecausetheyarehardyandtoleratelongdryweather(eg.,PataneorLimabean;Bataoor Hyacinthbean orKadiosorPigeonpea)

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• Everygardenshouldhave70percentofitsareadevotedtoindigenouscropsvarieties.Therestcouldbeacquiredfromcommercialseedsources.

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• Withrisingtemperatureswecanexpectmorepestsanddiseases.Thatisareality.Thisisareasonforincreasingtheintraspeciesdiversitytoreducerisksfromcropfailure(eg.,differentkindsofsweetpotato).

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...theinter-speciesdiversityisalsoimportant.Diversegardensensuredietarydiversity.

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• InBIGwepracticeminimumtillage.Afterthefirstdiggingandespeciallyinthedriermonthswe avoidsubsequentunecessarydigging.The nextcropisplantedintheresidueofthepreviouscrop.Thisisawayofconservingsoilmoisture.

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• Greenorbluenettunnelshelpreducetemperatureandprotectthecropfromrainandinsects.

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Anotherway ofconservingmoistureandloweringsoiltemperaturesistoplacemulchonthetopofthebedandinbetween plantswithinthebed.

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InaBIG,theplantsdothediggingthemselves.Whenyoupracticecroprotation youtakeadvantageofthefactthatdifferentcropshavedifferentrootingdepths.Socropsarealwaysrotatedandneverplantedinthe sameareainthesameyear.

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BIGisanexcellentexampleofclimatesmartagriculture.Tryitoutandseeforyourself.Enjoynatureand live ahealthylifestylewithchemicalfree,fibredense andmicro-nutrientrichfoods.Enjoydietarydiversity bymaintaininggardendiversity

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