Mulching

Mulching is a process of covering the soil to retain moisture, reduce weeds growth, maintain soil health and fertility and enhance aesthetic appeal of the field. A ‘mulch’ is often a combination of organic or inorganic materials that ensures protection to plants in early growth stages.

Mulch is applied to bare soil beds or around existing plants by applying dried plant materials like leaf, Hay, dried plant stalks or covering with a plastic sheet up to 1-2 inch deep. This process retains the moisture and soil heat, prevents soil erosion, improves soil quality and productivity both in commercial and non-commercial uses like gardening, farming etc. Its uses are varied; it is applied in colder seasons around plants to ensure that the soil doesn’t lose its warmth and seeding and transplanting takes place at a faster rate. With progressing seasons, mulch ensures low weed growth and steady growth at steady soil temperature and moisture.

Mulch cause blockage for direct sunlight and rain to reach the soil bed. Mulch adds a layer of complexity in an ecosystem that is already brimming with microbiological activity. Plastic mulch sheets are impermeable and therefore require an additional drip irrigation system to keep the plants hydrated.

Good quality mulch is derived from dried leaves, and hay from rice, wheat or corn crops. Certain corn starch based polyester fibre biodegradable sheets are also popular mulch. Other types of conventional mulches are prepared by using Polypropylene, polyethylene or rubber which are not biodegradable but serve separate purposes. Mulching ensures that the soil stays compact, temperate and yields the best produce quantity and quality wise by exploiting available environmental situation.

Thus nurturing Agroforests for MAPs cultivation will ensure natural mulching of the plants growing in the shades of big trees, through dried leaves, blocking direct sunlight and rain.

Rain water Harvesting

Rainwater is Natures gift of free clean water supply which mostly runs out untapped. At the same time there is a worldwide grumble about water scarcity. Its calculated that on an average 1 mm of rainfall yields 1lts of clean drinkable water in 1 sqr mt area. Most of this water flows into our sewage system in cities. In rural areas and nature it either percolates into the Ground, or drains away into the nearest waterbody eroding the Topsoil.

Harvesting this water is very simple and can solve our farm and domestic needs easily for a year. In agrarian society harvesting of rainwater is essential to stop eroding the top soil and raising the ground water level.

Harvesting for household

• Place of collection:
  Best place to harvest rainwater is from the roof. Thatched, mud, tin or tiled roofs have natural slop to drain the water. For concrete having flat roofs, maintain a gradual slope towards the water escape ducts.
• Maintain a Clean Roof:
  For Urban houses with flat roofs, whitewash the roof once a year, avoid pet and other litters on the roof. Clean the roof periodically to avoid water contaminations.
• Water Collection: >
  Instead of draining the water into sewage, channel this water into collection tank at ground level, through collection pipes. Maintain the pipe arrangement to out the first few litres and then start the collection, so that the roof dirt gets washed off before a clean collection. Add a sieve outside the filter tank to avoid mud and other coarse impurities from entering.
• Water Filter: >
  Build filter tank of dimensions 3X3X3 ft.
  • Add 7 inches of Medium size clean gravels or crushed Granite cover it with a layer of HDPE net.
  • Add 7 inches of small size clean gravels or crushed Granite and then cover it with HDPE net.
  • Add 7 inches of finely compacted wood charcoal and then cover it with HDPE net.
  • Add 7 inches of clean sand and then cover it with HDPE net.
  
  

  Water enter the tank from the top and leaves from the bottom as clean drinkable water.

• Storing filtered water
  Filtered water can be stored in enclosed underground tank, far away from sunlight, so that algae do not develop in the tank, it can be pumped to overhead tank for domestic use.

Maintaining Ground water Levels

Groundwater level is the level of water that is present under the earth’s surface in rock fractures and formations as well as soil pores that trickles down into the surface of the earth, forming underground water bodies. A unit of rock that can yields usable water is called an Aquifer. Being a country that is highly dependent on groundwater supply for most of its basic needs, we need to ensure that we replenish the groundwater levels to meet seasonal demands as well as continue year-long supply of water for basic needs.

• The easiest way to maintain ground water is rainwater harvesting. It is cheap, efficient and ensures that resources needed for survival are maintained for sustenance.
• Instead of rain water running into sewage gutters and getting wasted maintain a recharge pit where excess rainwater from the storage can run into. When underground reservoir tanks are full, channel the extra collected rain water into these pits so that they get back into the ground.
• Ground water recharge pits are simple wells dug into the soil in the backyard, which runs to the water table. This pit is directly connected to the underground tank, so that the surplus water from the tank runs underground. Cover the mouth of the pit for external contamination.

Incase of very heavy rainfall, when the water level in the pit rises, cut down the water supply to the harvesting process, and release to the sewage.

Harvesting in Agro-Forests

• Maintain a Gentle slope: Maintain a gentle slope in the agroforest towards the direction of the nearest water body, to avoid rain-water stagnation on the ground. Stagnant rainwater either percolates into the ground or evaporates into the air. Stagnant water is often dangerous to the trees and plants.
• Dig Channels: Dig channels on regular intervals all along the farm (15-20 ft) between planting areas which should slope into these channels to collect the runaway water. These channels should have a gentle slope to run the water all along the agro-forest area. This helps circulating the rainwater in the farm and slowly allowing it to sink into the underground water, or evaporate to the atmosphere. This increase the soil water content in the area and raises the groundwater level. Micro-nutrients from the soil are also retained in the area. Channel should dug proportional to the amount of rain falling on the area, with a minimum of 1X1 feet.

Water Reservoirs

• Digging a reservoir is not necessary but is advisable to store the excess water, this water can be kept covered and clean to be used for maintaining livestock or for irrigation during the dry spells.
• As mentioned earlier, 1mm of rainfall on 1 sqr mt yield 1 lt of clean water, hence an area of 1 acre would yield at least 4000 lts of pure clean free water. If we can store half of this water having an annual rainfall of 100 mm, we have atleast 20 Million lts/ Acre. Hence digging proportionally large reservoir is advisable.
• Depth of the reservoir should be always more than the length and breadth to allow slow loss by evaporation. All the channels should finally empty into the reservoir after circling through the Forest area. Mark the boundaries of the reservoir with layers of Stones and plant bamboo and grasses around it to avoid losing the soil.
• Add fishes and water plants to maintain a healthy pond eco-system. Fishes can be consumed by the forester, while the fishes feed on the organisms and algae growing in the pool keeping it clean.
• Water plants like Lotus, water hyacinth and aquatic plants can be grown on the pool, which cleans the water and can be put to commercial use.