IMPLEMENTING SYNTROPIC AGRICULTURE IN CHEMPAKA KUNING OUR FIRST PLANTING

I have been thinking and reading about Syntropic Agriculture  in these last weeks as Ashok decided that this would be a good method to use in his Chempaka Kuning farm. Originally the ten acres of the farm was part of a much larger oil palm plantation and over the 20 years or more of its existence this had a drastic effect on the soil.  Every two weeks the soil around the trees was treated with pesticide to make it easier to get to the trees to cut the oil palm fruit.  In the weeks when pesticide was not being used, fertilizer was used instead to make the trees (and the fruit) grow larger. The farm also has some steep slopes so the characteristic tropical rain of Malaysia washed out whatever soil nutrients were left.

Many of the oil palm trees have been removed and the slopes have been terraced but the soil is in a very poor state and needs to be regenerated.  Syntropic Agriculture (also known as Syntropic Farming or Syntropic Agroforestry) seemed to be a good method to regenerate the soil as a first step to growing food. 

‘Syntropic’ is used in different ways across various disciplines and contexts including biology, ecology, agriculture and philosophy.  In general ‘syntropic’ seems to convey a sense of harmony, balance and organization often in reference to natural processes and system.

Syntropic Agriculture, also known as Syntropic Farming or Syntropic Agroforestry, is a regenerative farming system developed by Swiss geneticist and farmer Ernst Götsch. (see here for his website: https://agendagotsch.com/en/) It is a process-based approach that mimics natural ecosystems, promoting a harmonious coexistence between diverse plant and animal species. This method aims to establish a robust, sustainable ecosystem that rejuvenates the soil, absorbs carbon, and supports habitats. Syntropic Agriculture mimics natural ecosystems with the aim of establishing self sustaining ecosystems in which food is produced.  By replicating natural processes and creating diverse, dense ecosystems, this approach leads to soil rejuvenation and sustainable agriculture without using external inputs. 

The key principles are:

1.       To create diverse plant communities consisting of a mix of perennial crops, native plants and successional plant communities.  Eventually leading to a dense, multilayered system that mimics a natural ecosystem.

2.       Making sure that the soil is occupied by growing species at all times as this optimizes photosynthesis, soil life and constant nutrient input.

3.       Relying on natural processes that eliminate the need for synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and irrigation.

4.       Strategically choosing and planting crops in a way that promotes mutual growth and a rich fertile environment.  As the soil improves it can support a greater number and variety of plants and crops. With a permanent soil cover more water is stored, soil erosion is prevented and there is more production of the nutrients that support soil life.  Maturing plants are constantly rejuvenated by pruning and cutting which accelerates the natural development of a whole ecosystem.

5.     It is very important that the farmer is constantly aware of how the plants are growing  and supporting each other and takes appropriate action at the right time times to support this process.

We started this in Chempaka Kuning by planting the first of many cleared terraces with a mixture of trees and shrubs which will produce both food and biomass to enrich the soil as well as a variety of plant roots that will stimulate the production of the very necessary bacteria and soil animals which are part of a living and healthy soil.

the terrace before we started planting

This picture shows what the terrace looked like before we started. It was covered in the cut up remains of the oil palm trees that had been removed. You can see one or two of the larger plants that had been planted in the middle of the terrace.

Because of the poor soil we decided to plant as follows:

1.       The tallest plants will be hardy fruit producing trees and bushes like local bananas, star fruit, limau kasturi (a variety of limes), papaya and moringa.  All of these plants will produce some sort of food.

2.       We first planted each of these trees 20 metres apart along the middle of the terrace.

planting along the middle of the terrace

3.       We then planted various plants between these trees which would grow in the poor soil and provide biomass.  We planted:

a.       Mango ginger – produces ginger and large leaves create biomass

b.       Lemon grass – roots are used in Malays cooking and the leaves are a good biomass

c.       Cassava – roots can be eaten and produces biomass

d.       Glyricidea which we planted as a biomass producer.  This plant is a nitrogen fixer that grows in difficult conditions and produces a lot of nitrogen rich leaves which provide nutrition and biomass for the soil.

4.       On each side of the plants we put what is known as ‘empty fruit bunch’ or the remains of the larege oil palm seed pods which make very good mulch.  We added some extra compost to the top of the soil.

5.       The last job will be to plant Mombasa grass both sides of this central planted area.  This will allow access to the plants from both sides as well as providing food for the planned goats which will be obtained as soon as the goat house is finished.

Soon after we finished planting it started to rain as if the universe knew that we needed to water in all those plants! The next day we found that several of the plants had already put out new shoots and will keep an excited  eye on them all to see how they grow.

You can see the video about this here: https://youtu.be/SYBz3lGgUPI