Komposttillverkning i biointensiva odlingar - en undersökning med fyra fallstudier

Abstract

Biointensive farming is a farming method that gives a high yield of vegetables in a small area. It is a method that strives to benefit the soil health and biodiversity with a large variety of crops, less use of machinery and fossil fuels. By carefully planning each bed with early, middle, and late crops it can give a higher yield on a smaller area compared to a conventional farm. As the soil is farmed intensively it requires addition of organic material in the form of compost or manure to compensate for the nutritional loss. This study focuses on the use and production of compost in biointensive farms. Compost is usually made on a large scale in industries from plant residue collected from communities and private households. The study shows that compost made on an industrial scale has a large amount of plastic in it and a high level of heavy metals that is not allowed on organic farms. This means that biointensive farmer are not able to use it and must make their own compost. Through qualitative interviews with four biointensive farmers, the study aimed to answer questions about how biointensive growers work with compost and what difficulties and opportunities they see with it. The study shows that the biointensive farmers I have contacted work with similar methods in compost production but with different tools and materials. To produce a compost that is both soil-improving and nutritious is a common goal between them.