Martinique, February 2022
Arnaud and Sébastien, two farmers from the island of Martinique, aim to plant 6,450 trees of 34 different species on former plots of land used for intensive banana growing, polluted with chlordecone. Planting trees will help tackle some of the territorial issues of soil contamination by chlordecone and the challenges of food sovereignty in Martinique, where 80% of food consumed still depends on imports.
The project will run over several years and so involve several waves of planting. It began in May 2021 on plots of land where coconuts and cocoa trees will grow together with the newly planted trees. Between May and November 2021, 881 trees of 10 different species were planted.
Planting continues apace at the beginning of 2022.
The planting work is carried out by the teams of workers on the farm, with technical support and supervision provided by an organisation experienced in introducing agroforestry practices. The planting is going well, despite the unpredictable and difficult weather conditions.
Once the plots had been prepared, the team drew up the planting rows then staked and made holes for the trees according to a precise plan.
Mulch, a mix of self-generated wood chips and organic compost, is distributed at the base of each tree planted. Mulch at the foot of a tree helps control weeds and retain water in the soil. During planting, 30 to 40 litres of mulch were spread around the foot of each young tree. This is a lot of mulch, but it is vital for this particular region. More will be added before the dry season in February 2022.
Regular maintenance is now being carried out on the first two plots. Every month, weeds and creepers are being cut back to prevent them from competing with the trees for resources in the first few years after planting.
Arnaud and Sébastien are pleased with these first planting operations, successfully completed thanks to support from the technical team. The next waves of planting should prove even more efficient and precise: the remaining trees will be planted by February 2022 on the coconut and cocoa plots (499 trees), plus three new plots with banana trees and ferns will be planted out from March to July 2022 (1,840 trees). Planting will then be finalised by planting the remaining trees from mid-2022 to early 2023.
Additional training was conducted in March and again in mid-December 2021. These covered agroforestry and tree maintenance, particularly pruning of fruit trees, fertilization, and disease prevention. The field team coordinated the training with the leaders of the hamlets in which the trees were planted in 2018 and 2019 to demonstrate the actions on sufficiently mature trees. The farmers appreciate the hands-on, community-based aspect of the training; with these good practices, they can harvest the fruit earlier and thus diversify their income more quickly.
