importance of conservation agriculture in nepal
Post on 22-Apr-2015
98 Views
Preview:
DESCRIPTION
TRANSCRIPT
Weed competition and conservation agriculture for smallholders: Insights from
maize systems in the hills of Nepal
Tika Karki1, Andrew McDonald2 and Adam Davis*3 1Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu; 2CIMMYT, South Asia Regional
Office; 3USDA-ARS Global Change and Photosynthesis Research Unit
Context
Multi-phase study
• Farmer survey (2009):– labor, food security, fertility, cultivars, weeds
• On-farm (2010): – observations of farmer practices vs. BMPs
• On-station (2009-present):– replicated CA cropping system trials
Farmer survey
77 householdsin Myagdi,Baglung andParbat
Finger millet (Eleusine coracana)
Maize
Finger millet
cultivation,followed byfingermilletplanting, 60-90 DAPpre-tasselingin maize
Planting Hand-weeding30 DAP
urea 10-15dbefore millet
On-farm trials
Weed population densityParbat: 688 plants m-2
Baglung: 1244 plants m-2
Gra
in y
ield
(kg
ha-1
)
0.6
0.9
1.2
1.5
Weed free FP Weed free FP
Parbat Baglung
Solid line inside the box indicates median and the dotted mean
Millet
Crop population
Plan
t pop
ulat
ion
(ha
-1)
30000
35000
40000
45000
50000
55000
60000
65000
70000
20 DAE At harvest 20 DAE At harvest
Parbat Baglung
Solid line inside the box indicates median and the dotted mean
Parbat Baglung Myagdi
Th
inn
ing
(d
ays a
fete
r e
me
rgn
ece
)0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70First SecondThird
DistrictsN = 25 N = 23 N = 29
BMP: 52,000 plants +/- 150 ha-1
Farmer: 36,900 +/- 500 plants ha-1
BMP FarmerCrop population (practice)
0
1
2
3
4Y
ield
(M
g/h
a)
Maintaining maize cropat recommended populationdensity resulted in a yieldincrease of over 160%compared to the farmerpractice of heavy thinning.
On-station trial (2009-present)
• Maize-rice crop rotation• Split plot design with full factorial of:
– Tillage (main): no-till, conventional (ox-drawn plow)
– Residue Retention (split): removed, 40 cm– Soil fertility (split-split): farmer practice (FYM),
BMP: FYM + Urea (110 kg N ha-1)
top related