Pick and Write [Agricultural Word]👉#02
This is my first contest entry and second official post on Steemit. Glad to join the Pick and Write contest and I'm picking "Manure Management"
I wish I could say I know the details of managing it but what I can talk about is the value of managing the natural manure we have.
Take our farms in Ghana for instance, the waste is there. Cattle are shitting all over the place and we are looking at it as if it is nothing. As of 2022, the global livestock population had generated billions of tonnes of manure, while some of our farmers are busy buying synthetic fertilizers with their hard earned money, and making money from farming is not that simple.
Why are we like this? Manure has nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium. It is lying on the ground for God’s sake, but if you do not manage it properly, it is going to cause problems for you.
The ammonia volatilizes into the atmosphere. In some cases, 30% to 50% of the nitrogen is lost because the farmer left the heap uncovered. What a waste of resources, natural resources that is free.
There is also the runoff. When it rains and the rain is heavy, it washes all the raw feces into the nearby stream. It is a dirty business. The nitrates seep into the groundwater. Once the concentration is above 10 milligrams per liter, it is no longer safe to drink. We are talking about modern farming and we cannot even dig a proper pit to store manure.
It is not a joke. If you do not treat the manure, you are literally asking for pathogens. Some people scatter it without treating it.
That is how bacteria are dispersed everywhere. I wish my voice could be loud enough that we really should stop joking with this sector. The price of synthetic urea is increasing every day, while the manure is lying under the cow’s buttock. We should be smarter by now.
Invitation to
Hey Amagrace,
I'm happy to see a post from you! The term “manure management” made me laugh, what crazy time we live in.
In the past, every farm in our area had its own manure heap, liquid and solid waste were separated, and both were used as fertilizer. No thought was given to "management", that's just how it was. I even think people would have thought you were a little crazy if you didn't use manure and slurry from your farm.
I don't know how it was done in Ghana in the past. But perhaps it's enough to remember how our ancestors did things in some cases.
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😅😅 I so understand you my dear friend. For me it’s funny how something that was once just common logic now needs a technical name and a whole system around it. Our ancestors worked with what they had and understood the value of closing the loop, even if they didn’t call it management like we are. Organic natural stuff is so important, I'm seeing more chemical fertilizers being used in Ghana, a lot of farmers are sacrificing healthy and organic quality crops for mass production
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