Dear Members of the forum,
My group are working on restoration ecology, and my interest is in particular the microbial communities. In South Africa, only 12% of soils are suitable for crop production, and of that only 3% are considered fertile. Thus, we need to find ways in which crop production can be intensified on marginal soils. Conservation Agriculture had a significant impact on farming in South Africa, and many farmers changed their practices. Our research group are involved in studies on a number of aspects.
Biodiversity is an important contributor to food security and improved nutrition.
From a number of studies we have seen that a reduction in the above ground diversity had a significant impact on the below ground diversity, resulting in a decrease in ecosystem function. One of the most important questions that we are currently investigating is the effect of farming practices on the microbial community diversity and function.
Measuring microbial diversity for research has in recent years become easier and more affordable, however, it is still difficult for the farmer and agricultural consultant to measure diversity and interpret the meaning against the backdrop of other soil health indications. To this effect we developed a fingerprint profile method to characterise soil diversity to be used in conjunction with other soil health indicators. This has shown to be effective in providing the agricultural community with a method to measure changes in biodiversity.
Our group has also developed a soil microbial consortium which has been successful in field trials. The microbial mix allow farmers to reduce chemical input, and the organisms are native to the region. This is particularly important in this region as much of our biodiversity are endemic and invasion is a real threat to our native biodiversity.
Good governance, enabling frameworks, and stewardship initiatives are needed to facilitate mainstreaming of biodiversity within and across agricultural sectors.
Currently, the government are working on draft legislation to promote CA in South Africa. There are also many champions, on national as well as regional scale who actively show and promote the value of these practices in enhancing diversity in the ecosystem. This has been very clear during the last drought, where CA farms showed more resilience, and maintained yields.
It is important for academia to foster relationships with farmers, industry and government to address the road forward.
Prof. Karin Jacobs