The tractor and the turner Composting at the organic plantation of VREL is a science. The idea was to look around and use local materials to prepare a compost to use as a fertilizer for the banana trees. Many trials have been conducted in order to find the most perfect compost. In 2005 the compost that is produced is enough to feed all the organic banana trees, a part of the other banana trees and to sell some of it to an organic mango grower in the North of Ghana.
Bram van Iersel, a Dutch Agricultural student first started the trials at VREL and spent half a year in Ghana, living and breathing the organic project from the beginning, together with partners from AgroFair Assistance and Development and the senior management team at VREL.
In 2001 a cattle feeder was imported from Holland to mix eight tons of compost daily. Since then the operation has become far more sophisticated with two compost turners donated by AgroFair Assistance and Development. Each turner has a capacity to produce 100 tons of the finest compost daily.
The trials have developed the following recipe:
- Local river weeds which are harvested by local fishermen. There are many local people involved in this ongoing activity in which the river weeds are harvested daily from the river by canoe and then loaded into trailers and brought on site.
- Clay from the field. Clay is added to the compost to create clay- humus compost, which adds vital ingredients, micro-organisms and friendly bacteria to the mix. These are essential to add nutrients and life to the soil and ultimately to the banana plant itself. Clay is also added to the compost to hold moisture, make humus (nutrients) and keep the compost stable
- Cow manure from local cattle feeding organically. The use of organic manure will increase the organic matter content in the soil, increase soil fertility and improve soil water holding capacity and percolation.
- Chicken manure from organically fed chickens which provides nitrogen to the soil.
- Bagasse (dried sugar cane), rich in sugars and bacteria’s.
- Banana stems
- Wood shavings and rice husks to provide aeration.
- Cocoa husks
The team of workers in front of the
composit The riverweeds showed to be a perfect ingredient and makes up about 75% of the compost. It is in abundance in the big lake and on the river and it is a nuisance to the Volta River Authorities, because it blocks access, makes the river shallow and prevents the fisherman from fishing. It also produce mosquitoes that can transmit malaria. Because of the quantity VREL can rely on it for many years to come. The river weeds are mixed with the other ingredients using a compost turner. Windrows (long uniform heaps of compost) are set up. The heaps are covered with a fleece cloth that prevents water from penetrating while enabling the compost to breathe. The windrows are watered using the plantation irrigation system and care is taken that the composting material is neither too dry nor wet. As the material starts fermenting, there is a rise in temperature. Within the first week the temperature rise to between 65 and 75 degrees and the heat will kill any pathogens inside the manure or the river weed. After that it slows down and the micro organisms start to work naturally. The windrows are monitored and turned using a compost turner to cool down the temperature and create air inside the heap. When the compost is ready it is dark brown and smells like forest soil. It should not be possible to distinguish any of the different materials that went into the mixture. From beginning to end, compost preparation takes about eight to ten weeks.
Considerable quantities of banana plant waste are used to improve soil fertility. After harvesting, the whole banana plant, except the follower, is cut down, chopped up and used as mulch or used in compost preparation. Mulching helps to conserve water loss, provide soil nutrients, suppress weed growth and minimizes soil erosion.