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According to Agricultural success from Africa: the case offertilizer tree systems in southern Africa ( Malawi , Tanzania , Mozambique , Zambia and Zimbabwe ), a report from the International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability , simple Fertilizer Tree Systems (FTS) can double maize (corn) production in soil that is low innitrogen, an essential plant nutrient. A type of agroforestry , FTS incorporate nitrogen-fixing trees and shrubs into agricultural fields, usually inter-plantedwith food crops. These trees take in atmospheric nitrogen andreturn it to the soil, where it serves as a nutrient for plants. QUIZ : Think you know Africa? Take our geography quiz. Soil analyses by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and others in the 1980s revealed nitrogen to be alimiting factor in many African soils. In response, on-farm studiesin the 1990s showed that FTS, with the right species, couldincrease crop yields with or without mineral fertilizers. FTS are much cheaper for farmers to implement than buyingfertilizer and represent a more holistic approach to soilmanagement. FTS scaling-up programs were broadly implemented about10 years ago, and in that time the number of small farmers usingthese techniques has ballooned from a few hundred to more than250,000 in Malawi, Tanzania, Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. FTS have proven most effective for small farmers who are able todevote the necessary labor and land more easily than raise themoney needed for commercial fertilizer. By relying on naturallyoccurring systems rather than imports, agroforestry improves food security , bolsters biodiversity , and reinforces local economies. The introduction of a wider variety of plants to fields, forexample, has been shown to increase diversity of the localecosystem, which further augments the soil. According to the report, FTS have generally been successful, butthey are subject to regional variation. Some areas have found moresuitable native nitrogen-fixers than others, and many regions havehad little or no research to identify the best plants to use. I am an expert from medical-examgloves.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Polyethylene Disposable Gloves Manufacturer , Latex Industrial Gloves, Sterile Surgical Gloves,and more.
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