Agriculture Agriculture Research Group Project Kadagaya Email: [email protected] Website: www.kadagaya.org Facebook: www.facebook.com/kadagayaproject Contact 1. World Bank. Agricultural land (% of land area) 2015. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/AG.LND.AGRI.ZS (accessed May 22, 2015). 2. Boelee E (Ed). Ecosystems for water and food security. IWMI/UNEP; 2011. 3. OECD. Water use in agriculture 2015. http://www.oecd.org/agriculture/water-use-in-agriculture.htm (accessed May 22, 2015). 4. Hughey T. Aquaponics for Developing Countries. Aquaponics J 2005;3:16–8. 5. Goodman ER. Aquaponics: Community and economic development. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2011. 6. Jones S. Evolution of aquaponics. Aquaponics J 2002;6. 7. Chiang R. Cost/Benefit Analysis of Aquaponic Systems. Pdf 2009:1–11. www.backyardaquaponics.com/Travis/CostBenefitAnalysisofAquaponicSystems.pdf (accessed May 12, 2017). 8. Mollison B, Slay RM, Jeeves A. Introduction to permaculture. 2nd ed. Tasmania, Australia: Tagari Publications; 1997. 9. Tacio HD. SALT : Sloping Agricultural Land Technology. ILEIA Newsletter 1988:1–5. References The Kadagaya project is developing a model community to demonstrate the enabling technologies and concepts behind of a resource- based economy. The community is located in a rural jungle region of Peru. Our aim to provide self- sufficiency for around forty people in the basic needs of food, clean water, shelter, sanitation, energy, internet, and education. Traditional agriculture uses around 37% of the land [1,2], and 70% of the fresh water on Earth [3]. The food crops for the our community have been selected in order to efficiently provide maximum nutrition . Advanced agricultural techniques, such as aquaponics, will allow us to grow a wide range of crops in less area than traditional farming. These techniques have been demonstrated to be effective for community and economic development in developing regions [4,5]. Introduction Food forest: two sites (1) 0.5 ha of area cleared by cut and burn (2) 0.5 ha of regrowth forest/old coffee plantation. The first area has few existing trees and has been planted with small citrus, papaya, banana, and ice cream bean trees. Beans, corn, and native legumes have been planted as nitrogen fixers. Sacha inchi nuts have been planted as a vine layer. In the second area, we are slowly incorporating additional canopy trees (e.g. avocados), under story trees (e.g. cacao) and edible plants (root and vine crops) that are shade tolerant. Hot composting: a process of obtaining 1 ton of rich organic material in around 18 days using thermophilic (heat-loving) bacteria which function at high temperatures (55-65 °C) and break down organic matter through an aerobic process (using oxygen). From our experiments we obtained high- quality compost and concluded that a wide variety of inputs, control of the moisture content, and regular turning (to avoid the pile getting too hot) were important. As composting is very fast in our tropical region anyway, hot composting does not have major advantages here; however, building a large hot compost pile on top of a leaf-cutter ant nest proved useful in reducing their numbers. A steaming hot compost pile Permaculture experiments We have allocated the land for the walipinis and aquaponics systems and expect construction to begin in late 2017 or early 2018. The two food forest trial areas will be continuously monitored to evaluate which planting techniques and plants are successful. This knowledge will then be applied to preparing larger areas of food forest. We plan to continue experimenting with permaculture techniques suited to our land, including sloped agricultural land technology (SALT) [9] and the treatment of greywater using retention ponds. Plans and future work Aquaponics: does not require soil; the plants are grown in a flow of high nutrient water provided from a fish farm. In turn, the plants clean the water, which is returned to the fish tank [6]. This type of agriculture is not dependent on the quality of the soil or the weather. Our aquaponics systems will be placed inside underground greenhouses, called “walipinis” where the plants can be climate controlled and protected from insects and diseases (so pesticides/herbicides are not required). By controlling the temperature, water supply, nutrient levels etc., it is possible to produce higher yields of the crops (per year and per area) using less water compared to traditional soil-based agriculture [7]. Food Forest: Large plants such as fruit trees, forestry timber, and bamboo (that cannot be grown in the aquaponics systems) will be grown outdoors in a permaculture food forest, which simulates the biodiversity of a natural forest [8]. Integrating many different types of trees, plants, fungi etc., in a strategic way allows natural symbiotic relationships to occur, providing natural protection from pests, improving soil quality, and providing habitat for other organisms. Our region in the Peruvian Amazon is one of the most biodiverse on the planet and we are committed to its preservation through our actions and outreach programs with the locals. Implementation in Kadagaya Updated May 2017 Figure 2. Permaculture banana circle. Ginger sliced for drying Garden harvest Aquaponics cycle Figure 1. Flow diagram showing the holistic cycle of the aquaponics system. The system has been designed as a closed loop to optimize the preservation of nutrients and minimize waste through the use of all organic waste products as inputs for other parts of the process . Banana circle: A banana circle provides optimal growing conditions as banana trees require lots of nutrients, light, and water. We built a banana circle with a central hole with both a radius and depth around 1 m. A mound with both a height and width around 0.5 m was made from the soil dug from the inner hole to form the garden area for the plants. A wide variety of organic materials was thrown into the hole, including fallen logs and tree trunks (to provide helpful fungi and drainage at the bottom of the hole), followed by mulch materials such as organic kitchen waste, weeds, leaves (green or dry), and egg cartons. Organic waste is added daily to add to the compost pile. Small banana and papaya trees were planted on the inner edge of the rim with lemongrass, ginger, and turmeric (to deter pests). Sweet potato was planted as a general groundcover, along with pineapples (another nutrient-hungry fruit). One year later and our first bunch of healthy bananas have appeared! Societal change through appropriate technology