Background:
To establish this self-sustainable project in a humid tropical forest, land was selected that measures approximately 180 hectares, located 8 km from the municipality of Cahuita (Limón) The closest community to SEED is San Rafael, 2 km from the property and the next is Carbon Dos, 8 km from SEED property.
This land was originally sub-divided by IDA and then it was acquired by Don Higinio Diaz. He dedicated his work to logging, utilizing the cleared areas for raising cattle for both meat and dairy purposes. He worked with limited technology for 35 years before the land was purchased by SEED.
The farm has close to 40 hectares of primary forest, and 50 hectares of secondary forests with wood that can be cut for primary materials in building the structures for work and housing on the project property. The topography is mixed (valleys, hills, rivers, etc.) located between 70-120 msnm (9º42.16” N—82º52.10” W), with regular precipitation averaging around 3400 mm per year. The property is surrounded by the following rivers: Hone Creek, Carbon Dos and Cañagira Brook.
¿How did we begin the project?
In 2010 Intensive work began to build a road to make the land more accessible. The SEED Board of Directors oversaw the arduous task of constructing of a 3 km “acceso vehicular de bajo impacto ambiental” through the jungle costing over $60,000 connecting SEED to a public road and establishing a primary entrance for the project. Once the land became more accessible, SEED began to develop the different stages of the project, prioritizing the sustainable integral farm.
Technical concept
The objective of designing a comprehensive and self-sufficient farm is to be able to give an example of effective sustainable agricultural production without the need for intensive use of chemical inputs and exploitation of natural resources. By having a sustainable system focused on education and self-sufficiency, lot owners can be encouraged to implement new techniques of coexistence with the environment.
The design of the self-sufficient integrated farm relies on many factors such as climate, soil fertility, terrain relief, available water and others. When designing the integrated farm, all these factors were taken into account to optimize the location and amount of space designated for each of the productive integrated systems. To be sufficient, it is necessary to follow a development plan for the farm and carry out the activities in a staggered manner so that progress is made according to the established priorities. Likewise, alternatives for animal feeding, construction and use of natural resources continue to be carefully analyzed to prevent overexploitation of any resource.
Within the productive area of the farm, different systems have been designed that could provide food to feed the families that live on the land as well as food to sell to neighboring communities. In each of these systems, the sustainable use of natural resources has been considered, as well as innovative techniques for waste management. The following figure shows the integration processes of the described technical components:
Farm Diagram
For the establishment of the GIA, the characteristics that would affect the future management of the plantations and farm systems were determined. These components included develoing rotating system for animal access to nutrient rich fields, considering access to water resources, natural water drainage, wind direction, determining location of fields and animal housing with respect to coordinates and movement of the sun, among others. In the integrated design, it was important that the components of the farm were efficiently located for effective energy management, maintenance and supervision.
To determine the designated areas based upon the desired characteristics, soil analysis was carried out on the different modules that were identified by the analysis of the landscape. As expected, less accumulation of nutrients was observed from the slopes and more accumulated nutrients were found at the base.
In general, the soil analysis indicated that a large percentage of the sampled areas were in an optimal range. However, this is a resource that requires ongoing management to maintain these levels and allows for intensive use of each component. For this reason, it is intended to integrate feeding and waste management cycles to reincorporate organic matter to the soils and help stabilize interactions.
Under this concept and with the above laboratory data, the decision was made to use the slopes for the cultivation of green manures that will be incorporated into the soil in a terrace system for its improvement. Later it is intended to plant forages to feed the housed animals.
The valley showed an accumulation of iron (Fe) and manganese (Mg) that can be very harmful for any crop. However, this area represents the lowest elevation of the farm and therefore optimal for water drainage by gravity and movement of raw material in descent. That is why this part was chosen to develop the pens and animal infrastructures.
The soils close to a pre-existing infrastructure (house) was largely covered by stones. For this reason, this area was chosen for the development of the animal housing sector and a small area for the development of tuber plantations to supplement the feeding of the inhabitants of the project and for the animals.
Farm design
The technical diagnostic of the project was designed based on the results of different studies from which subsequent phases were developed for the actualization of activities desired at the farm. The terrain consists of valleys, hills, rivers and primary and secondary forest. The soil samples taken determined where the Granja Integral Autosuficiente (GIA) (Integrated Self-Sustaining Farm) would be located. These samples indicated which soils were most appropriate for the distinct components of the system, taking into consideration the direction in which the winds blows, the transit patterns of sunlight, and location of water resources (there are 3 natural springs on the farm property). Samples of these three springs were analyzed by the laboratories at EARTH University to determine the physical and chemical properties, as were the soil samples mentioned before.
Once this information was gathered and the literature reviewed, integrated systems were defined, and designed, as well as the best location for the physical structures and agro-ecological development.
With the objective of developing self-sustaining practices, a segment of 20 hectares was divided into individual lots for the construction of eco-friendly houses. This represents one of the most important items in the development of the project. The income from lot sales is intended to subsidize the costs of the sustainability and development of the project as well as providing protection for the natural resources.
The Integrated Farm is developing and expanding to provide increasing nutritional needs of the families that live at SEED. It continues to be necessary to identify ideal locations for specific types of food production within the specific climatic conditions, distinct from conventional systems of production. The goal is to ensure the agricultural practices maintain a high quality in relation to the sustainable management of the resources, the implementation of clean energies and any other type of themes related to the project.
Technical components of the project
Integrated Self-Sufficient Farm (GIA):
The farm will have 14 production systems that cover the basic food needs by having species such as cattle, sheep, pigs, broilers and animal by-products such as milk, cheese, eggs, among others. This farm will allow studies carried out by professional researchers to be carried out and put into practice.
Comunidad sostenible:
que se integrará como una comunidad sostenible al comercializar 20 propiedades de 5000 m2 cada una. Esta comunidad pretende ser energéticamente sostenible en un 50%, sus edificaciones serán construidas con un máximo de 30% de materiales no bio-degradables, sistemas de manejo y descontaminación de aguas grises. Su construcción será realizada mayormente con materiales del lugar como piedras, bambú, madera, entre otros materiales. La venta de estas propiedades dentro de la comunidad permitirá el subsidio de los recursos naturales, ambientales y culturales que compongan el proyecto.
Reforestation Project:
In the land designated for the project, there are areas that were used by the timber sector and do not have coverage beyond the pasture of the pastures. These areas will be destined to cultivate timber and fruit species for the short, medium and long term.