SoilCare Inc, P.O. Box 525, Alstonville, NSW 2477 Ph: 0448 026 230 E: [email protected] Web: www.soilcare.org Facebook: www.facebook.com/soilcare
North Coast Local Land Services Project Ground Covers and Cover Crops for Soil Health
Ross Arnett Malua Farm - Macadamias
Project Objective: Demonstration of ground covers & cover crops to improve soil and tree health. This project
has two parts. The first being the use of Dolichos Lablab as a cover crop in a new macadamia tree planting and the
second component is the use of cover crops and compost to repair previous poor practices using herbicides around
small trees.
Farmer’s philosophy on farm & soil management: Farming to me is all about the soil. It is the foundation of good
farming practices. I am very much focused in this area and
believe that among other things increase the organic matter
and diversity of plants in my ground covers will lead to a much
healthier & productive macadamia orchard. Ground covers play
a critical role in adding to the diversity of the orchard. While a
macadamia orchard may appear to be a monoculture to the
casual observer - by having ground covers and not bare soil
and a diverse range of species within that groundcover you
create an ideal environment for many species of organisms to
thrive above and below the surface.
Groundcover/Cover Crop demonstration steps
Lablab was used as a kikuyu grass suppressor when
planting 800 new macadamias
• The new rows were marked out and rotary
hoed twice 3 weeks apart to kill the kikuyu
• The Lablab on maturity was then slashed
across the rows to allow room for tree
planting
• The Lablab has been allowed to keep
growing providing protection and soil
improvement for the new trees
Fumig8tor (a biofumigant) along with compost
enhanced with Trichoderma has been used to
suppress Phytophthora in 8 year old macadamias.
A nursery area has been set up to grow Pinto
peanut, Shaws Creeping Vigna & Kenya White Clover
as ground covers in the older part of the orchard.
Dolichos Lablab
SoilCare Inc, P.O. Box 525, Alstonville, NSW 2477 Ph: 0448 026 230 E: [email protected] Web: www.soilcare.org Facebook: www.facebook.com/soilcare
Proposed benefits: • Increase soil organic matter
• Increase infiltration
• Improve soil structure
• Decrease runoff
• Decrease soil erosion
• Conserve soil moisture
• Increase nutrient availability
• Supply/maintain nitrogen
• Suppress weeds
• Suppress soil-born diseases/nematodes
• Attract beneficial insects
• Increase crop yields
Additional information/ how to monitor The Lablab I expect to prevail for 2 to 3 years. When the
Lablab starts to decline I will look at planting other suitable
cover crops to take its place until the macadamia trees are
mature enough to compete with the kikuyu.
I plan to use the soil health card and photography to
monitor and assess the changes to the health of the
Phytophthora effected trees.
The Pinto Peanut, Shaws Creeping Vigna & Kenya White
Clover grown in the nursery will be planted out in the
orchard as the kikuyu recedes due to shading from the
macadamias.
A ‘good bug mix’ is planted in headlands to further attract
beneficial insects to the orchard.
Arnett Family Macadamias
Sunflower cover cropsprovide multiple benefits
Propagating Pinto Peanut
For more information contact: [email protected] Subject line: Ross Arnett
This project is sponsored by SoilCare and Richmond
Landcare with funding from the North Coast Local Land Services (NCLLS)
Description Quantity Unit Price Cost
Lablab 100kg $ 2.56 $ 256.50
Fumig8tor 6 kg $ 7.20 $ 43.20
Good Bug Mix .5kg $ 90.00 $ 45.00
Shaw Creeping Vigna .5kg $ 90.00 $ 45.00
Sunflowers - Grey striped 25kg $ 2.28 $ 57.20
Phytoguard 1pkt $ 178.20 $ 178.20
Organic compost - donated to the project by Northern Rivers Waste 20m3 $ 0.00 $ 0.00
Total $ 625