Regen Ag: Smallholder Sorghum

Regenerative agriculture focuses on improving soil (micro)biology, rather than soil chemistry. Health soils drive improvements in plant health and crop yields. While healthy soils can support healthy plants, the reverse is also true. Healthy plants send much of the sugar they produce through photosynthesis into the soil. These sugars feed soil (micro)biology and build soil organic matter. Soil (micro)biology act as plants external digestive system: soil (micro)biology extracts minerals from the soil matrix and release them in forms that plants can easily absorb and use much more efficiently than the chemistry contained in fertilizer.

Our hypothesis is that sorghum is naturally adapted to the local soil (micro)biology: it seems plausible that the co-evolution of sorghum & the local soil (micro)biology over thousands of years means that sorghum may be better able to benefit from improvements in the soil (micro)biology than maize which is a comparatively “new” crop (in evolutionary timescales). We believe that there is a potentially powerful synergy when an indigenous, drought tolerant crop is grown in healthy soil that can infiltrate and store more water. 

We believe that African smallholder farming systems are ideally suited to Regen Agriculture practices: key principles of regen agriculture, such as the integration of livestock into arable farming systems, are already common in many African smallholder farming systems. Greater exposure to climate hazards makes crop diversification a simple choice. Maybe most importantly regen agriculture offers smallholders the prospect of increased yields with reduced input cost. If approached pragmatically, regen agriculture can increase smallholders yields & profits in the short-term by utilizing of a phased approach that focuses initially on increasing soil fertility and rebuilding soil health before reducing herbicides, fungicides & insecticides. While no / low tillage is often seen as a core element of regen ag in smallholder farming systems we believe it should be one of the final components.

Regen Ag: Smallholder Sorghum

  • Foliar Fertilizer

    Foliar fertilizer, applied to plant leaves in liquid form, minimizes disruption to soil (micro)biology that can supply plants with all essential nutrients needed for healthy plant growth. Foliar fertilizer also provides critical micronutrients that support complete photosynthesis & protein synthesis and plant health.

  • Recycled Seed

    Recycled seeds can ‘host’ beneficial soil fungi & bacteria from the previous season helping to ‘inoculate’ the soil and kickstart the natural soil (micro)biology.

  • Biological Seed Treatment

    Biological seed treatments strengthen the natural soil (micro)biology and are especially powerful when used in combination with foliar fertilizer & recycled seeds. Insecticide seed treatment, which is standard for commercial seeds in much of southern Africa, inhibits soils natural (micro)biology.

  • Soil Primer

    Soil primers, such as molasses, mimic the flow of plant sugars into the soil which is associated with complete photosynthesis in healthy plants - this can help to ‘kick starts’ soil (micro)biology.