Farmers Learn To Produce ‘Bokashi’

Some farmers and agricultural students in the South West Region recently learnt how to produce and use the Japanese organic fertilizer called Bokashi. The farmers and students received the knowledge on Friday, April 25, 2014 during a practical workshop on organic farming organized by the Buea Sub-divisional Delegation of Agriculture and Rural Development.

By Immaculate Mkong

Bokashi hs been tested and proven by agricultural engineers to be environmentally friendly, easy to produce and cost effective.

Bokashi means thinning or gradation and is one of the fertilizers made by mixing organic materials like oil cakes, rice bran, chicken droppings, fish meal, bone powder with clay soil or subsoil from the forest. Other materials like wood charcoal and ashes, fermented plant juice, extracts of useful organic substances, etc are added to the mixture.

“Due to the high rate of demand for agricultural products in Cameroon, the green revolution was introduced to replace the traditional farming system. The green revolution came and killed the fertility of the soil because farmers engaged in the use of inorganic fertilizers in order to have more and rapid harvests,” said Mbah Joseph, Coordinator of Friends of Nature who promotes Bokashi in Cameroon.

He said inorganic fertilizer is not only very expensive for farmers, but also kills the fertility of the soil and is also detrimental to human health.

“So having observed all these, I decided to go to Japan to study rural leadership and organic farming. It was there that I learnt how to produce Bokashi which was the main fertilizer used by Japanese farmers. I came back with that knowledge to help my people,” Mbah told The Green Vision.

According to Mbah, Bokashi can be used to grow both food or compound and cash crops like tomatoes, vegetables, corn, beans, cassava, plantain and cocoa, coffee and palm nuts.

He added that Bokashi is very similar to compost in terms of main materials, fermentation, duration of making, nutritional effects, and effects on improving soil.

He said his first public demonstration of Bokashi in Cameroon was in 2013 at Federal Quarters in Buea.

The South West Sub-divisional Delegate for Agriculture and Rural Development, SDDARD-SS, Elame Germain, said the workshop falls within the framework of government’s vision to promote second generational.

He defined organic agriculture as the growing of food crops, vegetables, fruits, permanent tree crops, flowers, animals, snails, fish and honey production naturally without using synthetic chemicals such as fertilizers, pesticides, growth hormones and antibiotics.

Elame said for government to achieve her vision for second generational agriculture, organic agriculture must be practised because of the following environmental and health advantages: useful insects like bees are protected for plant insect pollination, global warming is reduced, biodiversity and the ecosystem are protected, clean agriculture is practised, less or no chemical residue in food vegetables and fruits because pesticides are not used, little or no pollution of ground water used to drink, cook and wash; meat and fish will be safe to consume, and the good health in farmers would be guaranteed, hence greater agricultural output.

According to Elame, organic agriculture also has some long-term yield advantages such as soil conservation and greater fertility leading to better harvest, longer life span for crops produced, reduced cost of production since farmers no longer have to buy the expensive synthetic chemicals and insects like bees will be preserved giving room for increase in honey production.

Participants attending the workshop lauded the idea of Bokashi.

A medic, Dr. Cheke Vincent, told the Green Vision that he got into agriculture because both medicine and agriculture are life sciences and most of the drugs that human beings take for treatment come from plants.

“So I thought it wise to practically understand the science of plants and the environment as well,” Dr. Cheke said. 

He said the introduction of Bokashi is a wonderful idea and would bring about a breakthrough in the sector provided farmers understand its importance and how to use it.

Some agricultural students from Kumba in Meme Division took active part in the practical production of Bokashi.