Cutting Edge Farming, Environmentally Responsible Farming in Patchakan Belize

Belize New Post is always on the lookout for stories from Belize. This story comes from our resident PhD in agronomy, the science of soil, Dr. Thomas Post. The following is a short photo story of Alfonso Vallejos a farmer in the northern Belize Village of Patchakan. Vallejos is growing corn in a environmentally friendly way, managing an underground forest, without slashing and burning.

Here is Alfonso Vallejos’ method of taking care of his land.

Allfonso Vallejos in his fields

Alfonso is trying to restore the fertility of his land by letting some of the native legume trees and bushes grow back from the roots. They are actually an “underground forest” that he maintains in synchrony with his crops. He prunes these bushes down each time he wants to plant. He does not burn up the leaves or branches, but instead he lets them decompose to become humus.

The Underground Forrest, which is later cut, but not burned, to make humus.

Vallejos has gotten a lot of attention from environmentalists and American academics for his successful use of this method of farming. Underground Forest Management, originally pioneered in Niger, is a promising new farming technique, producing higher crop yields, using less fertilizers, and no burning.

Soil humus that remains after the Underground Forrest is Cut and decomposes

Vallejos has also worked long and hard to get an irrigation system set up, and last year’s bountiful corn crop was the result. In addition to his corn success, he is currently experimenting with grain amaranth, a super nutritious and drought resistant food grain.

Alfonso: Former CRWRC Ag Teacher in Belize: His Beautiful Corn Crop with No-Till and Irrigation