Application of novel soil management technologies for poverty alleviation of traditional rural communities and enhanced environmental health of the Am

农民对其土地采用的管理方式对周围环境的健康以及农民及其家庭的社会经济福利有重大影响。牛顿基金之前的一个项目（NUCLEUS）专注于提高氮（一种重要的植物和土壤元素）的利用效率，确定了一套非常适合巴西北部小农的新做法，提高了自然肥力低的热带农业系统的可持续性和生产力。在这里，我们打算更广泛地传播这种利用各种生态系统服务来提高作物生产力和土壤养分利用效率的新方法。这些措施包括i)采用一种新的土壤管理系统（免耕），农民避免犁耕造成的土壤扰动，以保留土壤有机质，从而形成更自然、更有效的土壤结构；ii)加入有利的土壤改良剂(例如豆科生物质（增加氮）和石膏（改善土壤结构，从而深入生根）；（三）引进豆科树木，促进土壤养分循环，并提供作为可收获产品的附加价值。这种新方法最大限度地减少了土壤退化，促进了同一地区的重复种植，从而消除了不必要的轮作系统的需要，这种轮作系统在很大程度上导致了森林砍伐、环境退化和农村人口向城市迁移造成的贫困。迄今为止，我们已经与巴西马拉尼昂的一个小型传统社区网络合作，通过在他们的农场进行试验，验证了这一系统。现在，我们打算通过建立新的传播中心（即示范农场），通过知识交流、社区活动和外联活动来扩大这一范围。我们估计，通过克服阻碍马拉马拉州中北部农村社区农民接受技术的障碍，大约15万农村家庭的生计可以得到改善。

The management farmers apply to their land has a significant impact on the health of the surrounding environment and the socio-economic wellbeing of the farmer and their family. A previous Newton Fund project (NUCLEUS) focused on enhancing Nitrogen (an essential plant & soil element) Use Efficiency identified a suite of novel practices, well suited to smallholder famers in northern Brazil, which increased the sustainability and productivity of the tropical agri-systems with low natural fertility. Here we intend to disseminate this new approach more widely which makes use of a variety of ecosystems services to increase crop productivity and soil nutrient use efficiency. These include i) the adoption of a new soil management system (no-till) where farmers avoid the disturbance of soil created by ploughing to retain soil organic matter allowing a more natural, effective soil structure to develop; ii) incorporation of advantageous soil amendments (e.g. leguminous biomass (which adds Nitrogen) and gypsum (which improves soil structure and hence deep rooting); and iii) introducing leguminous trees which enhance soil nutrient cycling and provide added value as a harvestable good. This new approach minimises soil degradation, facilitating repeated cropping of the same area thus removing the need for unnecessary shifting cultivation systems, which have contributed so significantly to deforestation, environmental degradation and poverty via rural to urban migration. To date we have validated this system in partnership with a small network of traditional communities in Maranhao, Brazil by trials on their farms. Now we intend to expand this via knowledge exchange, community events and outreach activities through establishment of new Diffusion Centres (i.e. exemplar farms). By surpassing the barriers which hinder technology uptake by the farmers in the rural community of central-north of Maranhão, we estimate c.150,000 rural families livelihoods can be improved.