Traditional Knowledge for Sustainable Management of Soils - Principles of Sustainable Soil Management in Agroecosystems - page 310

FIGURE 13.1 Sheep penning. A flock of sheep is retained in a cage for a night and moved
to the next site the following day. (Reprinted from Reddy, S., Soil Carbon Sequestration
for Climate Change Mitigation and Food Security , November 24 to December 3, Central
Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, 322 pp., 2011. With permission.)
fertile), and Kiyari (least fertile). Considering quality and the importance of improv-
ing the fertility status of soil, farmers have ranked different practices ( Table 13.7 ).
Sheep, goat, and cow penning was ranked first and crop rotation as the second-
best soil management practice on account of their no-cost nature. Others are ranked
according to the cost implications.
13.3.1 S heep , G oat , and C ow p enninG
There are two types of penning: cattle penning and sheep penning. There are two
particular castes, Ganderiya and Yadav , in India who pen their sheep and cows on
a farmer's field in return for money and grain, as these sheep owners are landless
and need food grains. It is a kind of barter system. They keep the bovine animals
(cattle and sheep) in the fallow land after the harvest of the last crop throughout day
and/or night supplied with suitable feed and shelter (Figure 13.1). Fresh sheep dung
contains 0.5%-0.7% N, 0.4%-0.6% P 2 O 5 , and 0.3%-1.0% K 2 O, and sheep urine con-
tains 1.5%-1.7% N, traces of P 2 O 5 , and 1.8%-2.0% K 2 O.
13.3.2 M anurinG /F arMyard M anure
FYM is an important input for maintaining and enhancing the soil fertility. FYM
prepared from cattle dung has been the backbone of traditional Indian agriculture
since time immemorial ( Figure 13.2 ). It was used as a source of nutrition for plants.
Cow dung is also used for seed treatment to provide protection against preemergence