BUJUMBURA January 10th (ABP) – ISABU Director General Dieudonné Nahimana recommends farmers protect the soil from erosion and inundating in the shallows, a check on Thursday January 9 2020, during an interview he gave to the ABP.
Mr. Nahimana affirms that the growing season A 2019-2020 was characterized by heavy rainfall in the sub-regions, which took away fields of crops.
Farmers, says the director general of ISABU, should prepare for such incidents by choosing crops that withstand high rainfall.
Those include crops such as banana which produces more when there is heavy rain, cassava, sweet potato as well as corn.
Other crops do not produce when there is heavy rain. Those are legumes like beans.
The Director General of ISABU took the opportunity to signal that there will be a decrease in bean production for the growing season A, which is estimated at more than 50% due to heavy rain.
Mr. Nahimana also notes that there have been landslides, inundations and that because the farmers have not sufficiently protected their land by plotting the contour lines. “This is what ISABU is popularizing with farmers across the country,” he said.
According to him, there are farmers who turn a deaf ear to this practice of protecting the land, by developing contour lines, by planting both fixing grasses and agro-forestry trees that coexist with the crops.
Where that practice has been well done, there have been no more landslides. There is no erosion or inundating.
Regarding the advantages of developing contour lines, Mr. Nahimana pointed out in particular the protection of the soil against erosion and the protection of marshes against inundations.
Planting fixing herbs feeds pets and helps stop soil erosion. It also helps in mulching crops such as bananas and keeps the soil moisture constant, which contributes to its fertilization.
Once the Burundian population in general and farmers in particular implement the above recommendations, production is likely to be good and erosion under control.
