Productive, resistant plants start with healthy soil. Crops need not only adequate nutrients, but a favorable soil structure and environment for optimal growth. In the tropics, soil conditions vary widely, and many small farmers are forced to grow their crops in very poor soils which require special methods for food production. Green manures and cover crops, which afford some protection from weathering elements and may improve the soil, have proven themselves in the field for their contribution to soil health and conservation. This chapter also offers some ideas on planting materials and fertilizers for improved plant nutrition.

• Composting and Hill Culture
• The Haiti Mix for Starting Seedlings
• A Peat Substitute Made from Coconuts
• Removing Salts from Container-Grown Plants
• Book Review: Saline Agriculture: Salt-Tolerant Plants for Developing Countries
• Salt Tolerance in Leucaena?
• Some Helpful Facts About Salinity
• Planting in Fresh Volcanic Ash
• Resources on Soil Health

• The International Cover Crop Clearinghouse
• Enthusiasm for Cover Crops
• Green Manure Crops Offer Tremendous Advantages to the Small Farm in the Third World, by Roland Bunch
• What We Have Learned to Date About Green Manure Crops for Small Farmers, by Roland Bunch
• Innovations in Green Manures
• Jack Bean Report
• An Obscure Use for Jack Beans
• Commercial Lablab Varieties
• Sunn Hemp as Green Manure
• Tropical Kudzu Used as Green Manure in Zaire
• Velvet Bean Success in the Republic of Benin
• Legume Cover Crops in Orchards or Plantations

• What About Rhizobia Inoculants?
• How Adequate is Chicken Manure Tea as a Fertilizer?
• How to Make Fish Emulsion Fertilizer
• Pigeon Pea and Chickpea Release Phosphates
• Plant Tissue Nutrient Tests Available at Ohio State University
• "Feeding and Balancing the Soil" Course
• International Ag-Sieve

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