A Conservation Agriculture Production System Program for the Central Plateau of Haiti.

Low crop productivity and soil degradation in Haiti have been widely documented and shown to be linked to malnutrition, civil instability, and susceptibility to natural disasters such as flooding and mudslides.  Although environmentally degraded and rapidly becoming more so, the resource base of the Central Plateau still retains the minimal biophysical status from which can be built sustainable growth in agricultural productivity in the near term.  The overall hypothesis of this project is that Conservation Agriculture is a viable approach to building a resilient future for Haiti’s Central Plateau.  To achieve greater food security and self sufficiency, a conservation ag (CA) system including reduced tillage and various cover crops has been tested.  Sunn hemp (Crotalaria spp) and sorghum-sudan cover crops have shown the most promise in maize based cropping systems.