How We Use Sunn Hemp to make our own green manure and build our soils

Sunn hemp is a multipurpose tropical and subtropical legume that originated in India where it has been grown since the dawn of agriculture. It has been utilized as a green manure, livestock feed and as a non-wood fiber crop.
It is a member of the legume family. It is a branched, erect, herbaceous shrubby annual growing 3 to 9 feet high with bright green simple, elliptical leaves.
Sunn Hemp has deep yellow terminal flowers, and the light brown pods are small (1 inch long and a half inch wide) and inflated. It has a well-developed root system with a strong taproot.
The crop is grown for green manure, as a soil improver and as a disease break in cereal or other crop rotations. Sunn hemp is locally used as fodder.
Despite its name, Sunn Hemp is not a true hemp of the Cannabis genus.

[@brianmwiinga8166]

You are so natural. Your presentation skills are amazing. Far much better than most of the broadcaster we have in Zambia

[@mondofarms4343]

Thanks Ba Mwiinga. 😊

[@stevejohnstonbaugh9171]

Once more, an excellent educational presentation! Thank You!

[@johnkojopoku7870]

It's always exciting to watch your videos. I'm glad to discover your channel. It is educative, informative, entertaining etc. Helpful channel.

[@mondofarms4343]

Welcome aboard!

[@MadHatter5032]

Loved this video. Great presentation. I think you might be interested what my friends are doing in Rwanda on a small scale with changing the way individual farmers are learning a no-till method which is producing bigger crops with much less fertilizer which is a big savings to them. The project is called Bridge to Rwanda and it also involves educational opportunities that are pretty amazing.

[@mondofarms4343]

Thanks

[@johnkojopoku7870]

I have recommended your video to my fellow Ghanaians farmers 🇬🇭

[@mondofarms4343]

Thanks so much.

[@93VIDEO]

Planting beans provides a lot of nitrogen for the soil and a harvest of beans that can be sold.

[@mondofarms4343]

Thanks. We grow a lot of soya beans and beans as shared is several other videos on our channel. Pls check them out. In this instance, we wanted to experience sunn hemp for ourselves. Take care

[@letsworksimple]

the Bible even guides us to rest the land every 7 years The whole idea is not to have a crop but a manure like you said

[@93VIDEO]

@@letsworksimple Good idea Bro !

[@rolandofragoso8798]

Love your video keep up the good work

[@mondofarms4343]

Thanks!

[@roselinendegwa1039]

Just subscribed now from Kenya

[@mondofarms4343]

Welcome aboard 😀

[@vukilemafuta4085]

Good day Mr Chisha thanks for the best videos much appreciated, I wish I could come and learn more from you guys. Love in South Africa

[@mondofarms4343]

Thanks and take care

[@ZStormy-ep8cv]

​@@mondofarms4343Hello Mr Chisha. ​​ I have found a Stone that looks exactly the same as Sunn Hemp Seed. It even have markings on where the seed sprout first. Going to do a few test and see if I can let them grow faster than normal. Also add a few extra benefits to it too like a Magneto Electric Torus Field. If you have more ideas on how to make them better please let me know and I will add it. Just after I Found the Stone and cleaned it in water the exact same form appeared in a cloud. Would love to make it better. Did already add more benefits to the plant. Will be better to get input from someone that is not a first timer to plant them. Have a Blessed season.

[@olamideantonio]

I must say I love your sense of humor sir 😂😂

[@mondofarms4343]

Thanks 😊

[@elizabethmalama3345]

Thank you for this information. Will get some sunnhemp

[@mondofarms4343]

Hi my dear. Great to hear. You really inspire me with the way you are pushing your farming venture. I'm sure you will take me for a plane ride one day. 😉 😉

[@ainz_z_z4752]

This video is very helpful and informative. Thank you, and I look forward to your next content.

[@mondofarms4343]

Glad it was helpful!

[@felixyusupov7299]

Regenerative farming calls for minimal disturbance of the soil. You might be better off flail cutting the sun hemp and leaving it on the soil surface as a armor. The worms will pull the sun hemp into the soil over time.

[@mondofarms4343]

Thanks Felix. We will try that in future.

[@mohameddiallo7775]

Thump Up sir.Really excited to watch ur video❤

[@mondofarms4343]

Thanks a ton

[@mauriceslhs]

AWESOME. Kablanketi is also a swahili term for a small blanket 😅😅😅😅😅

[@mondofarms4343]

Yes, I know. And it means the same thing here. Here's a thought for you. I am surprised by how many comments I get from viewers across Africa on the issue of how many words they hear on our videos that are familiar to them. And how our various languages have so many things in common. I had always felt that we have more in common uniting us than dividing us throughout East and Southern Africa especially. Think of all the migrations of our people throughout history and the shared colonial past.

[@FeliciaBoamah]

There is a version called rattle pods grows wild here in Ghana

[@mondofarms4343]

Thanks

[@c0astarianabr0ad]

how long does it take to breakdown the stalks when ploughed???? just thinking of time between discking and planting

[@mondofarms4343]

It doesn't really take long. Plant debris decomposition continues for quite a while, which is a positive thing, and it is a source of nutrients for the crops later on. It really helps to build the soil.

[@corriedebeer799]

Are you in Kimberly in the Northern Cape?

[@mondofarms4343]

No, we are in Chongwe, Zambia. The farm is named after Kimberley because my late maternal grandmother came from there. We have family there. The migrant labour system around Southern Africa, has left its mark on families all over.

[@southernsorghum6859]

Did you do soil tests before & after growing the sunnhemp to measure the impact on N levels?

[@mondofarms4343]

Wow. We didn't even think about that. I would have shown the sampling and the results in the video, which would have been great value to viewers. Will consider it next time we plant Sunn Hemp for green manure. We are actually putting down another small field of it at Winterthorn, where some eggplant has just been retired. But this new crop will be allowed to flower and seed.

[@southernsorghum6859]

It was soil tests that first got us thinking about Sunn hemp. In one of the villages where we work tests showed the soil only had 0.005% N vs. the target of 0.3% - 0.4% 😮 This helped explain the low yields farmers in that village were getting! We knew we had to do something to improve soil fertility, but with very low levels of organic carbon as well as v. low N we knew that fertilizer would be a short-term fix and we needed a longer term solution. Crop rotation might help, but it would take time to see the benefits. We needed a quick win. Encouraged by your experience we will support farmers we work with to experiment with Sunn hemp next season 👍 @@mondofarms4343

[@user-bf2ku9mu7v]

Good morning Mr. Chisha I would love to inquire something about farming from you, I don't know which channel I can use....

[@mondofarms4343]

Hi there. Thanks for getting in touch. We would love to help, but find ourselves very busy with our normal work and duties. You can imagine how many requests we get every week, and if we accommodate all, we would have challenges in meeting our work deliverables and targets. I decided to help other farmers through the KZbin videos we do, which take a lot of time and effort. For now, that is all we can offer. I advise you to keep reaching out to other farmers like you have done here. One thing I would highly recommend is to work closely with your local agronomists. These are found in most reputable seed, fertiliser, or agrochem companies, and we consult constantly. Wishing you the best in your farming.

[@ashilunnguandreas8477]

Your vernacular have common words with Oshiwambo in Namibia

[@mondofarms4343]

We are all Bantu. Not surprising.

[@hopemorrison2367]

Don't you also have to buy the seeds that could be also very expensive

[@mondofarms4343]

Yes, but the sunn hemp seeds we bought were very reasonable. Especially considering the benefits. We think of such things more as an investment than a cost.

[@davidgachoka]

Depending on how first the hemp regenerates,is it possible to mow it down and allow it to regenerate again for more nitrogen fixation and more more biomass.Would that be more advantageous?

[@mondofarms4343]

I doubt it. From my research, sunn hemp is an annual crop. It grows once, flowers, makes pods and then seeds, and then dies. The seeds would grow the following season. Some people let it seed and then collect the seed for future planting or sale. We are actually planning to do that now that wr have seen how easy it is to grow and its magical benefits.

[@EwaldCloete]

You have an opportunity to go into sustainability. Conventional ways of farming is not sustainable. Take a look at the food forests they built in Senegal with Permaculture and syntropic afroforestry to greate the 'AfricanGreen belt' to keep the Sahara at bay. You'll produce so much more produce and a bigger variety going this direction. Conventional farming is dying out for a reason, because it doesn't work sustainably.

[@mondofarms4343]

Indeed.