Can I plant an agroforest on degraded soil?

I have a piece of land, but it is completely degraded, what do I do to start planting an agroforest?

In our years of experience we have always come across special people who want to transform their stories and each with their own reason, dream of having an agroforest. Some very common questions we receive are related to the condition of the soil and its suitability for receiving agroforestry planting. But after all, even on land that has been pasture for years, is it possible to plant an agroforest?

Yes. Here in this post we explain a step-by-step guide on how to start your agroforestry, even starting from degraded soil or pasture.

Soil preparation:

In an area larger than 1 hectare, machinery will be needed: find a tractor with a harrow that you can rent, which has an implement called a “harrow”. This operation of passing the harrow over the soil must be carried out a few times (2 or 3 times) to loosen the soil and loosen the grass clumps.

After harrowing, apply lime + gypsum, or only one of them, depending on the result of a basic soil analysis: if the soil is very acidic, lime should be applied; but if the soil contains aluminum in depth, gypsum must be applied. It may be that both have to be applied. The limestone must be incorporated into the soil for its action to be efficient, therefore, the harrow must be passed again. Gypsum can be applied to the surface and will be absorbed little by little.

Species choice:

After that, the ideal is that after choosing the species for the system, whose planting will most likely be carried out in rows, the subsoiler is used along these planting lines. The subsoiler is a piece of machinery that has a hook and breaks deep layers of soil that may be compacted and could impede root growth. At the same time or before, some type of manure or compost must have been distributed, such as chicken litter, horse litter or any type of organic fertilizer (animal manure); This way, when it's time to apply the subsoiler, it will deeply incorporate the manure into the soil. After passing the subsoiler, planting can begin.

Planting:

When planting, dig planting holes to accommodate the seedlings. Fertilizer can also be incorporated deeply at this time, but only if it is well-composted manure or other compost. After planting the seedlings, it is essential to cover the soil with wood chips, cut grass, or shredded leaves and branches.

If you are looking to recover the area to start planting in the next rainy season, you can plant green manure in the entire area (which can also occur right before or even after planting). Green manure is the planting of annual or semi-perennial herbaceous or shrub species that grow quickly, form dense roots, are rustic, cycle various nutrients and will help restore the soil. Basically, green manure species cycle nutrients unavailable in the soil, which will be deposited in their leaves and serve as fertilizer when they are mowed to cover the soil. The species most commonly used as green manure are: sunflower, oats, forage turnips, millet, sunn hemp, stylosans, pigeon peas... there are many species, but some are widely used and well-known, such as oats, for example. You can plant a mix of these seeds in the total area after the harrow, applying lime and gypsum as follows: distribute the seeds in a broadcast and harrow lightly once more to incorporate the seeds into the soil.

If you already intend to start planting trees, the process is almost the same: you must harrow, apply lime and gypsum as needed, loosen the subsoil and then plant the trees; In this case, the planting of green manure species can be done between the rows, followed by light harrowing.

Planting green manure means that you will produce biomass for your system, that is, fertilizer and soil cover, since after 3 months of planting green manure it will be necessary to mow them (with the same tractor with a brush cutter behind or with a backpack brush cutter). After mowing, cut the leaves and use a rake to accumulate the biomass generated on the seedlings, covering the soil and fertilizing the planting line. You can also plant green manure again after mowing or let the species resprout to always keep the inter-rows covered and the soil producing green manure.

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