MOM 2013-2015: sustainable management of soil fertility of prairies for forrage production in Guyana

MOM 2013-2015: sustainable management of soil fertility of prairies for forrage production in Guyana

The population growth in French Guiana (anticipated to double in less than 20 years) raises the question of the sustainable development of local agricultural products. For example, for beef, local needs are only 20% satisfied by local production, and the only local sources for animal feed are grassland; most of the imports (meat and raw materials for compound feed) come from metropolitan France, with well-known difficulties in the movement of goods and a significant increase in costs. Imports from neighbouring countries (Brazil and Suriname) are now limited, but could become more important in the future. In this context, the development of local production with quality is an option selected by professional managers and local politicians.

Livestock production in French Guiana has been developed over the last twenty years, particularly in the framework of the Green Plan (Vivier et al., 1995). Since 2010, the IKARE association, which groups together the livestock sector, has been carrying out applied research activities in breeding aimed at improving the technical-economic performance of livestock farmers, transferring and popularizing the research results and innovative practices with breeders.

The main challenge of this project is therefore to aid in the provision of effective methods for French Guianese farmers to optimize soil management. This involves the development of innovative technical itineraries for soil management methods that make it possible to maintain or improve the fertility of cultivated soils, while remaining economically and socially attractive for agriculture. This optimization of soil management also reconciles production with the preservation of the quality of water and soil resources.

ministere outre mer ikare

The RITA-GUYAFER Program 2013-2015

The RITA-GUYAFER Program 2013-2015

Project funded by: CIOM, EAFRD and The Regional Council of French Guiana (Le conseil Régional de la Guyane)

Partners: CIRAD, Solicaz

The GUYAFER program was created under the RITA French Guiana framework. It aims to promote and support the transition to organic farming (biological or not) to ensure the sustainability of soil resources and systems of production.

The experience accumulated in other tropical countries shows that the sustainability of agriculture under these conditions is highly dependent on the recovery of certain ecosystem functions present in the original soil-plant-climate system. Among these ecosystem functions, those whose relevance and adaptability can be better ensured for the socio-economic conditions of French Guiana are mainly related to the entry and preservation of nutrients and to organic restoration. In this sense, the practices the project will target are:

• Introduction of legumes (herbaceous and woody), in order to recover the natural entry of nitrogen into the system (symbiotic fixation) and its provision for cultivated plants (including transference, green manure, recycling after pruning or grafting);
• Organic amendments (composts, terra preta or biochar, BRF), partly to ensure the supply of nutrients with a progressive and less leachable source of decomposition and, secondly, to improve the physical-chemical properties of soils.

These practices will be developed within current agricultural systems (e.g. market gardening, orchards, giblets, etc.) and/or in systems to be promoted gradually (e.g. agroforestry). These agroforesty systems would be intended in the medium term to “mimic” the original system of nature and would thus be able to recover a greater number of functions in comparison to other systems.

This broader aim is divided into three specific objectives:

1- To carry out a diagnosis of the potentials and the constraints of the main agricultural soils of French Guiana, – in particular their chemical, physical and biological properties.

2- Improve soil fertility through practices adapted to the pedoclimatic, socio-economic and agronomic conditions of each region and / or sector.

3- Integrate all these practices in the context of improvement.

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