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Bio Intensive Garden 1

Bio Intensive GardensA climate & nutrition smart agriculture approach

2 A climate & nutrition smart agriculture approach

Credits:• Julian Gonsalves• Irish Baguilat• Emily Monville Oro• Christy Tacugue• Ronnie de CastroIIRR, Silang, Cavite, Philippines 4120

Thanks toIDRC Canada for supporting a program where these concepts were tested on scale in Cavite, Philippines with the Department of Education, Republic of the Philippines.

September 27, 2015


A climate & nutrition smart agriculture approach

Bio Intensive Gardens


•Why areBioIntensiveGardensclimateandwatersmart?

•Howcanwemakethemmoreadaptivetoclimatechange?

•Howcanweconservegeneticdiversityofnutritionalimportance?


• Bio-IntensiveGardens(BIG) isanagroecologicalapproachtogardeningwhichmakesthebestuseofavailablenatural resourceswithnorelianceonanychemicalinputs.

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Bio intensive Garden (BIG) is an agro ecological approach to gardening that makes the best use of locally available natural resources and doesn't rely on any chemical inputs.


• Abio-intensivegarden has alowcarbonfootprint because veryfewexternalresourcesareused.

• BIGreliesonlocallyproducedseeds,locallyproducedfertilizerandnochemicalpesticides.Thus,thecarbonfootprintoffoodproducedthis wayissmall.Moreover,thefoodproductsaresafeandfreeofpesticideresidues.

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BIG relies on locally produced seeds, locally produced natural fertilizers. It doesn't use any chemical pesticides. Thus, the carbon foot print of food produced using this approach is small. Moreover, the food products are safe and free of pesticide residues.


• Adeepdugbedis essential whenthere arefrequentdroughtsorflooding(12inchesdepthormoreisessentialifyouwanttotrapwaterinthesoil).

• Adeepdugbedconservesrainwaterand,intimesoffloods, draws thewaterdown tothelowerpartofthesoil,out ofreachoftheplantroots.

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12 inches deep

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out of reach?


• Thebedsarenarrowmakingitpossibletoworkfromthesidestopreventcompaction.

• Thisleavesthe soilalwaysloose.Theslightestrain isabsorbedandstoredinthesoil.

• Bio-IntensiveGardensharvestrainwaterbetterandstoremoisturelonger..

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The beds are narrow making it possible to work from the sides to prevent compaction. This leaves the soil always loose. The slightest rain is absorbed and stored in the soil. BIG harvests rainwater better and store moisture longer.

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• Deepdugbedswithloosesoilandlotsoforganicmatter helpto storewater,encourageearthwormsandbeneficialbacteria.ThisisaLIVINGsoilandgetsbettereveryyear(PROVIDEDyoudon’tletitdryupandcompactagaininsummer).


• Insummerwhenyourgardensaregenerallynotactivelymaintained,theentiregardenshouldgointoacovercropoflegumes(cowpea,ricebean,etc).Thiskeepsthemicrobiallife aliveandreducesweedgrowthandmostimportantofallkeepsthesoiltemperaturelow.


• Theplantingoftreesaroundtheperipheryofthegarden(KakawateorGliricidia sepium or Cassia siamea)isanabsolutelyessentialelement.If treesarenotplantedonallfoursides oftheplotthenwedon'tgettheadvantageofthecoolingeffectsofthetrees.Ifyoudon'thavetreesthewindtendstodrythesoil.

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The planting of trees around the periphery of the garden (kakawate or Gliricidia sepium or Cassia siamea is an absolutely essential element. Leaves of these nitrogen-fixing trees serve as source of green fertilizer. If trees are not planted on all four sides of the plot then we don't get the advantage of the cooling effects of trees and as effective barrier. If you don't have trees the wind tends to dry the soil.

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• Green-leafmanuretreesarealsogrownbetweeneverytwosetsofplotstoprovidegreen-leaffertilizer.


• Theadvantageofusinggreenleavesasfertilizeristhatitisawayofstoringcarboninthesoil.Unlikewhenoneuseschemicalswherewecontributetothegreenhousegases(trees absorbcarbon).


• Anotherfeatureof BIGisthatitusesmostly indigenousplantspecies. Theseareusuallyhardyandclimateresilient.Climateresilientvarietiesarebeinglostbecausetheyarenotpopularamongstmarket-farmers.

• Theseindigenousheritagevarietiesarestillaroundandpasseddownfromonegenerationtoanother.Theymustbesavedbecausetheyarehardyandtoleratelongdryweather(eg.,PataneorLimabean;Bataoor Hyacinthbean orKadiosorPigeonpea)


• Everygardenshouldhave70percentofitsareadevotedtoindigenouscropsvarieties.Therestcouldbeacquiredfromcommercialseedsources.


• Withrisingtemperatureswecanexpectmorepestsanddiseases.Thatisareality.Thisisareasonforincreasingtheintraspeciesdiversitytoreducerisksfromcropfailure(eg.,differentkindsofsweetpotato).


...theinter-speciesdiversityisalsoimportant.Diversegardensensuredietarydiversity.


• InBIGwepracticeminimumtillage.Afterthefirstdiggingandespeciallyinthedriermonthswe avoidsubsequentunecessarydigging.The nextcropisplantedintheresidueofthepreviouscrop.Thisisawayofconservingsoilmoisture.


• Greenorbluenettunnelshelpreducetemperatureandprotectthecropfromrainandinsects.


Anotherway ofconservingmoistureandloweringsoiltemperaturesistoplacemulchonthetopofthebedandinbetween plantswithinthebed.


InaBIG,theplantsdothediggingthemselves.Whenyoupracticecroprotation youtakeadvantageofthefactthatdifferentcropshavedifferentrootingdepths.Socropsarealwaysrotatedandneverplantedinthe sameareainthesameyear.


BIGisanexcellentexampleofclimatesmartagriculture.Tryitoutandseeforyourself.Enjoynatureand live ahealthylifestylewithchemicalfree,fibredense andmicro-nutrientrichfoods.Enjoydietarydiversity bymaintaininggardendiversity

bio intensive gardens - wordpress.com · • bio-intensive gardens harvest rainwater better and...

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