In the middle of a Sanda Magbolontor rice paddy Alfred from Society 4 Climate Change Communications learns all about Azolla and the unique bio-system it creates with rice, ducks and fish and the bountiful benefits Azolla brings to communities. Hope Sakuma project coordinator Amabest with a handful of azolla in one hand and a duckling in the other(!)* explains how with the help of the Azolla Foundation, we sourced Azolla last year from Njala and it performed so well in the two trial plots that this year the twenty new paddies will all use the new system.
Amabest explains how the Azolla gives the rice the nitrgogen it needs and also while providing nutritious feed for ducks, increasing egg laying and the number of healthy born ducks while also providing shelter for tilapia coming later this month as the paddies fill up. We learn how the ducks and fish, in turn, fertilize the rice with their manure.
Rice, ducks and fish all farmed organically on the same land, reducing farmer input costs, diversifying their livelihoods with nutritious fish and ducks to sell, increasing profits by farming intensifly but sustainably. And amazingly an acre of Azolla stores a huge amount of planet-warming CO2 and nitrogen - more than an acre equivilent of forest or legumes - helping offet rice paddies emissions in the third most vulnerable country to climate change.*no ducklings were harmed in the filming of this interview world.
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