5.5 Planting Trees and Grasses along the Boundary

Utilization of the boundary of a farm is very important in ecological agriculture. Farmers tend not to think of the boundary as a resource, but it can become a very productive and useful area by planning perennial trees and grasses.

Checks Soil Erosion

The main cause of soil erosion in Bangladesh is heavy rainfall in the rainy season and bare soil. Top soil is washed away because of the heavy rain if there is no protection on the boundary of the land. The heavy rain sometimes not only washes away the top soil but also breaks the boundary. Such erosion problem can be solved by planting trees and grasses on the boundary.

The roots of trees and grasses hold the soil firmly so that the boundary will never be broken and top soil run off is checked. Proshika farm faced serious erosion in 1988 when the boundary of the farm was broken several time by heavy rain and much money was spent on repairs. After planting trees and grasses, the problem was solved in a year.

Wind Breaker

Trees along the boundary are a wind breaker, protecting the crops from strong wind. In Bangladesh, the beginning of the rainy season is a season of storms (cyclone, etc.) but damage to crop will be minimized in this way.

Organic Matter Production

Boundary areas are usually not used for any production. By planting trees and gasses, this area can be a source of organic matter, which can be returned to the land as organic fertilizer. Permanent trees utilize sunlight all year and nutrients deep in the subsoil which annual crops cannot use. They also produce a large amount of organic matter (biomass).

Fodder Production

Leaves of leguminous trees and grasses (Para, Nephia, etc.) are very good fodder for livestock. Scarcity of fodder is a very serious problem in Bangladesh which will be minimized by trees and grasses in boundary areas.

Fuel Production

The shortage of fuel wood in the rural areas of Bangladesh is very serious. Rural people use almost all available organic matter (cow dung, crop residue, etc.) as fuel which means they cannot use it for soil fertilization. Trees can provide many branches for fuel which will solve or minimize the fuel problem. If you plant 365 Ipil Ipil or Joyanti (Sesbania Sesban) 2 feet apart along the boundary, in one year, sufficient fuel for a family will be available from the trees. The required boundary area for this is only 700 feet (210 m) which is the minimum boundary line of 2 bigha (2/3 acre = 0.27 ha).

Increased Diversity

Aside from these direct impacts, there is a very important indirect effect of building up the ecological balance of the farm land. Various kinds of permanent trees and grasses increase plant diversity and provide living places for animals (birds, spiders, frogs, etc.) which control insects. The diversity builds up ecological balance.

Shade

Shade is the main reason farmers do not want to carry out this practice. This problem can be minimized, however, through the planting of shade tolerant crops under the trees and using trees that can be cut several times a year.

Long Term Process

Though farmers know the advantages of planting trees and grasses, they are not very interested in the practice because it takes at least one to two years to establish effective conditions and the benefits gained by the practice are indirect and difficult for farmers to understand. So it is very important for motivation to demonstrate the practice.

Usually farmers do not want to plant any trees in a farm because they believe that trees make shade in which crops may not grow well. It is important to advise farmers to plant multi-purpose trees in the boundary area. Multi-purpose trees are usually not very tall and can be cut several times a year. Most multi-purpose trees are fast growing and leguminous and provide all the advantages listed above.

Proshika has been using Ipil Ipil, Gliricidia Sepum, Sesbania Sesban, Sesbania Glandiflola, Babula, etc. in the boundary area of the farm and along the ban of each plot. Using as many kinds of trees as possible (diversity) is always better than mono-plantation (e.g. only Ipil Ipil) in terms of ecological balance.

At the back of the book are a series of tables listing trees of various types (multi-purpose, timber, shade and fruit) for reference.