The quality and healthiness of our onions go through the promotion of agro-ecological techniques

Agro ecology refers to all the techniques aimed at practicing an agriculture that is more respectful of the environment, to limit pressure on it and to build a more sustainable agricultural system. Chemical inputs are not banned as in the case of biological farming, but they are used in a reasoned way to achieve satisfactory yelds.

West Africa’s soils are particularly poor and fragile. It is hard to imagine that they can reach yields comparable to what is possible in contexts that are more favourable. They cannot hold large amounts of water and chemical fertilizers, which are soon washed away. Nevertheless, there are alternatives

Our approach to agroecology

The finding is that small farmers seek for short-term earnings from their activity.

Our technical assistance services have demonstrated to our partner producers that this is possible, especially through a reduction in production costs, but also a (moderate) increase in yields. This without a significant increase in work required.

For example:

• Reducing nursery density resulted in more vigorous plants at transplantation, reducing the rate of loss
• Increasing plant spacing in the field allowed for better bulb development
• The cultivation in ridges has limited losses due to water stagnation
• The increase in organic materials inputs has made it possible to reduce expenditure on fertilizers and phytosanitary treatments: the costs of additional inputs of manure or compost are largely offset by the reduction in expenditure on chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
• Last but not least, what is most important to consumers is the quality of our onions. Indeed, manure and compost, in addition to the main nutrients (N, P, K) contain a range of microelements that allow fresh products to be kept longer and, above all, make them tastier and healthier.

In the long term, this approach will make it possible to regenerate depleted soils, thus increasing their water retention capacity (resulting in less irrigation water consumption), as well as their nutrient retention capacity, reducing the waste of chemical fertilizers.