Benin: Mucuna (velvetbean) cover cropping
This is an example of the introduction of a simple regenerative component into farm systems combined with increasing farmers capacity for local-adaptation of the technology. The spread of mucuna (Mucuna pruriens) for suppression of the aggressive weed imperata (Imperata cylindrica) has occurred because of land scarcity, decline in soil fertility, lack of fertilizer, and weed encroachment. Soils on the plateaux of southern Benin and Togo are nearing exhaustion. Fertilizer use is low among the large class of smallholder farmers. But even if fertilizers were available, the benefit from their use is declining because of a degrading soil resource base. Another consequence of the reduced fallow periods is encroachment of imperata, an aggressive weed that is very difficult to eradicate by hand. Researchers with the Recherche Appliquée en Milieu Réel project introduced mucuna cover cropping to alleviate the constraint of low nutrient supply to maize, the staple crop. The government extension services (Centre dAction Regional pour le Developpement Rural CARDER) became interested in this success and started testing the system. In 1990, the CARDER for Mono Province tested the system in 12 villages with 180 farmers. They expanded to other southern provinces in 1991 and the number of farmers testing mucuna grew to approximately 500. Large NGOs became involved and some 14 000 farmers now growing mucuna throughout Benin.