Abstract:

Compost is an organic fertilizer that can be made on the farm at very low cost. The most important input is the farmer's labour. Compost is decomposed organic matter, such as crop residues and/or animal manure. Most of these ingredients can be easily found around the farm. Agromisa’s Question and Answer Service frequently receives questions from farmers who face a problem with a decreasing fertility of their soils. Due to soil fertility problems, crop returns often decrease and the crops are more susceptible to pests and diseases because they are in bad condition. In order to increase soil fertility in the short run, nutrients have to be added to the soil. This is often done by applying chemical fertilizers. Chemical fertilizers, however, are expensive to purchase and for most small-scale farmers this is a problem. Preparation and use of compost can be a solution to that problem.