System of Crop Intensification

As mentioned in the Regenerative No-Till section, one of the systems we are adopting in 2021 - where appropriate - is the System of Crop Intensification. In particular our focus is to marry our regenerative protocols with the permanent raised beds SCI for wheat (SWI) and Sugarcane (SSI). This system uses particular spacing patterns, which end up using much less seed in the case of wheat and buds in the case of sugarcane. Despite significantly less seed, due to the optimal spacing each plant has, it can manifest its potential much better. This results in healthier crops with higher yields. We have scoured SCI results in India, Afghanistan and other parts of the world and the results witnessed by farmers are truly impressive.

In the case of sugarcane each plant is expected to have many more tillers per plant compared to conventional spacing for sugarcane planting in Pakistan. With the longer distance between each plant, intercropping of legumes is also possible, which has direct soil health and economic benefits. We have drawn our inspiration from a small-scale demonstration of this raised bed technology for sugarcane in Pakistan as well as several successful SSI initiatives in India - including some supported by WWF.

As John Kempf likes to remind the world often, the current global photosynthetic efficiency of the crops we grow is much lower than possible. If this can be enhanced (through various integrative means) we can see dramatic successes and results.