Soil management in vegetable gardens in the Eastern Free State and its impact on sustainable production

Abstract

The Free State Province has a population of about 2.9 million people (7% of the national population), growing at 1.5% per annum, with a density of 22 persons per km2. Before 1994, agricultural research and development efforts in South Africa were focused mainly on commercial farmers, neglecting small-scale farmers to a large extent. The challenge now lies in redirecting research and development, as well as extension efforts, to include this new clientele. The areas requiring attention include vegetable gardens in urban and peri-urban areas, small farmers, community farmers and reserve settlement areas (Saunderson, 1995:165-165). This study investigates the vegetable farming practices of small-scale farmers in the Eastem Free State. A questionnaire survey was administered to 30 randomly selected small-scale vegetable farmers. In addition, trials using carrots and potatoes were also conducted in two locations (Mpho and Leratong) to assess the impact of soil compaction on the preparation of seed-beds for vegetable crops. The demographic information collected indicated that the average age of farmers engaged in vegetable farming was 53 years. Most of the respondents (21 %) were in the age group 60 to 69 years. Most of the farmers had occupied the land for less than six years. With regard to the different farming activities described, 58.6% of the farmers had some experience related to agriculture. Of the farmers, 48% had a qualification lower than grade seven. The average size of land allocated for vegetable farining was 3 ha. Of the respondents, 86% planted their vegetable crops in seed-beds, while the rest made no use of seed-beds. Land resting was practised by 69% of the farmers studied. The majority of the farmers (41 %) irrigated their vegetable crop once per day. Mulching was not practised widely by the farmers interviewed. Farmers also indicated that they applied salt to vegetable seedbeds for moisture retention. Based on this information, soil samples were collected from non-salted, recently salted and old salted soils and measured for bulk density and porosity percentage. However, there were no significant differences with regard to both bulk density and porosity percentage between the three soil types measured. There were no Significant differences with regard to carrot length, diameter and mass between the two locations studied. The carrots from the loosened seedbeds were significantly longer (1.7 cm) than the carrots from the compacted seed-beds, while the differences with regard to carrot diameter and mass were not significant. Location as well as compaction had no influence on the mass of the potatoes harvested. In conclusion, this study shows that farmers need training in soil management and modern vegetable production techniques.