ISLAMABAD: The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) partnered with the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) to create a program to train Pakistani banana farmers in the proper methods to turn crop waste into compost.
In a statement Director Sindh Agricultural Extension Department, Dr. Soukat Abro said that USDA began the three-year Improving Soil Fertility and Soil Health through Agricultural Extension project in an effort to get farmers to use those waste materials to benefit the land and increase crop production.
A USDA team visited a banana farm in the Tando Allahyr district of Sindh to observe the program’s progress, he added.
He said that farmers in Sindh produce 90 percent of Pakistan’s bananas and have traditionally burned the waste produced by the crop adding that ICARDA is directing ten other Pakistani institutions involved in this project to train farmers to properly turn the leaves and stems left over from banana harvest into compost.
The compost can then be used to enrich their soil as there are currently 43 sites throughout country for farmers to learn about the process of mixing organic matter like the banana harvest waste with manure in order to create compost.
The project looks to expand into other crop production areas to identify more organic materials that can be converted into compost, he added.
Dr. Shoukat said that USDA, through funding provided by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has provided technical expertise and guidance to farmers throughout the country.
Their focus has been on using the established method of applying compost to nutrient depleted soil to enrich it with organic matter and improve its water holding capacity, he added.
