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Learning to reason agro-ecologically to design and manage more efficient, productive, profitable and clean Musa production
Introduction
Humans grow bananas in many environments
We humans live in all corners of the globe, using its immense biodiversity of nature for our survival and prosperity.
Rural communities have developed many techniques to grow crops and animals under very different conditions of rainfall, temperature and soils. Banana and plantain (also referred to as Musa) are not quite as adaptable as humans, but many millions of rural households grow them throughout the tropics or subtropics on almost every continent for their own food and as a source of income.
East African Highland bananas in Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, eastern DR Congo, Uganda grown by 1 million households - 900 to 1600 meters above sea level, 1000 to 1300 mm annual precipitation with two short dry seasons, low fertility weathered soils
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Bananas are affected by the weather
Bananas and plantains are considered a semi-perennial crop. We usually think they produce year round, but since they grow and flower based on adequate rain and temperatures, in most regions, harvests are abundant during certain periods and less abundant or even scarce at other moments during the year. Farm households choose the most favorable period during the year to plant and plan for harvests according to normal growing conditions.
Hurricane destruction in a Philippine banana plantation. Saba are grown by 150,000 families in the Philippines - 100 to 500 meters above sea level, 2000 to 3000 mm annual precipitation with 2-3 months dry season, fertile volcanic soils |
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The weather is variable and uncertain
While the seasonal cycle of weather influences how rural households usually grow their crops, they often face highly variable growing conditions from year to year. Rains may be scare or absent, in other years excessive, some years both droughts and flooding occur in the same region. Storms, high winds, hurricanes, typhoons, floods - these are frequent events, although not routine. Farmers expect this variability, but they don't know whether the coming season will bring droughts, too much rain or will be just right or maybe not. Growing crops under variable conditions is a challenge for farmers. The challenge is even greater due to the uncertainty and unpredictability of growing conditions.
Gros Michel, plantain and other bananas grown with coffee and cocoa in Central and northern South America and West Africa by 200,000 households - 800 to 1500 meters above sea level, 1400 to 2500 mm annual precipitation with 2-5 months dry season, volcanic and sedimentary soils of moderate fertility |
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Bananas are food for many organisms
Bananas and plantains are not only important for the livelihood strategies of many rural households; they also provide the habitat for many other organisms. Some of these organisms such as weevils, black sigatoka leaf spot, nematodes or banana bunchy top disease reduce the harvest available to farm families. However, other organisms help to control pests, protect banana roots or decompose plant residues to make nutrients more available. Both pests and beneficial organisms are also affected by climate and weather. They prosper under certain conditions and disappear under others.
Pacific Island bananas grown by 8,000 households - 25 to 300 meters above sea level, 1500 to 2500 mm rainfall with variable dry season, poor sandy soils
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Each farm household makes their own decisions
If we had the opportunity to visit each region pictured here, we would find big differences from household to household. On each farm, the farmer could point out the field to field differences in soil texture, drainage, slope, cropping history and other factors. This local variability influences crop vigour and pest presence and severity and thereby also affects cropping plans and management decisions. Households vary by farm size and land quality, access to resources, formal education, experience with the crop, other crops and animals on the farm and other economic activities, all of which influence decisions about cropping.
Dessert bananas in North Africa grown by 80,000 households - 100 to 400 meters above sea level, 300 to 800 mm annual precipitation with 9-12 month dry season, rich alluvial soils |
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Farmers use information to make decisions
Farmers use their own experience to guide their decisions, but they also seek outside information. From the early morning farm radio show, they hear about a new cultivar, the neighbor is using a pesticide in tomato which might work for bananas, the local NGO provides training in compost making, a daughter returns from a neighboring village with stories about urea for maize production. Farmers not only face variability and uncertainty in weather, but also pests. They also need to decide whether to stick with their current practices or try a new recommendation or follow the advice of their neighbors. They need to take into account their bananas, the pests, possible beneficial organisms and their pocketbooks.
Plantains grown in bush fallow agriculture in West and Central Africa by 1 million households - 100 to 800 meters above sea level, 1500 to 3000 mm annual rainfall with 1 or 2 dry seasons of 2-4 months, soils of low to moderate fertility |
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Farmers can improve their agro-ecological reasoning skills in the field with participatory, practical exercises and experiments, group discussion and analysis and scaling up of lessons learned |
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We propose
A farm household which is more observant, which experiments more, which asks more questions, which keeps better records and which is better informed is better prepared to make decisions for planning and managing crops under conditions of variability and uncertainty.
This guide is designed to provide practical support and orientation to field organizations and their field staff to strengthen the capacity of farm households to observe, to experiment, to analyze and to learn based on agro-ecological reasoning.
Agro-ecological reasoning applies the general principles of the food web, nutrient and water cycles and energy flows to the practical problem of growing bananas and plantains more efficiently and more profitably under local conditions of variability and uncertainty. Agro-ecological reasoning can be strengthened in all the different households shown in this section.
The guide is divided into four major sections:
A) Concepts of a Musa-based agroecosystem
B) The growth cycle of Musa (bananas and plantains) and the influence of temperature, water, light and nutrients
C) An agro-ecological view of pests and diseases based on an understanding of the influence of abiotic factors and the role of biotic factors in their management
D) Tools for participatory farmer group for learning and experimentation by crop stage |
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