Cover crops

Cover crops, as their name suggests, make it possible to cover the soil and then limit evapotranspiration from it to conserve precious water. Installed, their roots will penetrate the ground, decompact it and raise the deep water. Plowing then seems unnecessary, it is advisable to minimize or even eliminate it. These plants produce organic matter which, as it degrades, will feed the soil with mineral elements and nutrients. Cover crops associated with the main crop increase biodiversity, which is more interesting from an economic point of view for the farmers but also for the functioning of the ecosystem, its balance, the health of the plants.

This technique is interesting given the growing conditions in Togo, particularly in the action area of Planète Paysan Togo. The current experiment on the experimental farm consists, on 1.5 hectares, of comparing the effectiveness of two cover crops in association with maize: mucuna and cowpea. The latter will be sown 45 days after the corn. Other experiments are also underway to help improve uncultivated soils.

Faithful to the perspective of Planète Paysan, these experiments should make it possible to validate the interest of this technique on the economic and ecological levels before distributing it to farmers.