**8.2 Soil fertility improvement**

Soil fertility constraints to crop production are now recognized as the major obstacles to food security and agro-ecosystem sustainability in Sub-Saharan Africa of which Ghana cannot be excluded [60]. There is therefore the need for improvement in soil organic matter for sustainable cropping. Fallowing is the oldest method of restoring soil fertility and productivity in traditional cropping systems. The longer the fallow period, the higher the level of fertility generated. However, population pressure and land fragmentation have led to a shortening of the fallow periods in several parts of the country [61]. According to [62], farmers fallowed farmlands for 1–3 years and only about 12.3% of the farmers maintain some fallow with the fallow duration skewed towards the lower limit of 1–2 years. However, due to the rapid growth of population, there is a scarcity of cultivated land for this practice. Currently, the use of both organic and inorganic fertilizers is generally adopted by vegetable farmers' during production. However, conservation agriculture has been one of the techniques introduced to help mitigate depletion of soil nutrients, conserve water, minimize soil erosion, reduce land degradation and boost farm productivity [63]. Fundamentally, Conservation agriculture includes minimum tillage, crop rotation, and organic soil cover [64]. Minimum tillage decreases the risk of land degradation and retains the soil structure by reducing the intensity of soil disturbance and this has been adapted by many vegetable growers in Ghana. [62] Indicated that the adoption of sustainable agricultural technologies remains the route through which developing nations could combat poverty and attain food security.
