catalogue of tested crop, soil, and water management options in target areas of tanzania, malawi,...
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Presented by Patrick Mutuo, Lulseged Desta, Leigh Winowiecki, Job Kihara and Nelson Mango (CIAT) at the Africa RISING East and Southern Africa Research Review and Planning Meeting, Arusha, Tanzania, 1-5 October 2012TRANSCRIPT
Catalogue of Tested Crop, Soil, and Water Management Options in target areas of Tanzania, Malawi, and Zambia
Patrick Mutuo, Lulseged Desta, Leigh Winowiecki, Job Kihara and Nelson Mango
CIAT
Africa RISING East and Southern Africa Research Review and
Planning Meeting, Arusha, Tanzania, 1-5 October 2012
Objectivesi. To take stock of what has been learnt in the target areas
from earlier investments and potential for adoption in sustainable intensification of smallholder agriculture,
ii. To assess land degradation and access of smallholder farmers to productive land,
iii. To assess the physical and economic accessibility to the essential production factors for implementing improved options, and
iv. To assess the current conduciveness of the political, extension, and economic environment for their adoption.
Target Areas
Zambia – Lusaka &East
Tanzania
Malawi – Central districts
Well documented best bet options• Cereal-Legume rotations and intercropping (Cajanus cajan, soybeans,
groundnuts and common beans)
• Fertilization with recommended fertilizer rates of N and P; not much of K
• Addition of organic inputs (crop residue incorporation, compost manure, green manures, and farmyard manure)
• Combining inorganic fertilizers with organic inputs / ISFM
• Alley cropping/hedgerow intercropping
• Improved fallows using fast growing N fixing tree species (e.g., Tephrosia vogelii, Sesbania sesban, or Cajanus cajan)
• Systematic inter-planting of maize with Faiderbia albida
• Conservation agriculture (CA) in maize-based systems
What seems to drive adoption• Availability and affordability of required inputs such as
fertilizers, legume seeds, manures etc.• Competition of legume-based technologies with other
crops for limited resources – land, labour and cash• The speed of earning benefits – presenting challenges
with options such as Feldherbia albida, CA and FYM• Cash or food benefits of grain legumes
Country Estimated No. of HH/agro-dealer
Malawi 1,556
Tanzania 2,222
Zambia 2,333
Economic analysis of maize and rice fertilization at nine Tanzania sites
Crop Nutrient rates MRR*
N P (%)
Kg ha-1
Maize 0 20 156
Maize 0 40 18
Maize 0 0 0
Maize 30 0 206
Maize 80 20 241
Rice 40 0 409
Rice 120 30 296
Rice 120 0 344
Rice 40 20 766
*Favourable MRR should be ≥ 200%
CA and rip-line seeding effect on longer term maize yields on farmers fields in Malawi
(Source: Thiefelder et al., 2012)
Initiatives that have been implemented in the target areas aimed at agricultural intensification
Country Programme
Tanzania Accelerated Food Security (AFSP) and Agricultural Sector Development Programme (ASDP)
HIMA project in Iringa
Malawi Farm Input Subsidy Program (FISP)
National Manure campaign
National Conservation Agriculture Task force (NCATF)
Agroforestry Support Program (AFSP)
Irrigation, Rural Livelihoods and Agricultural Development Project (IRLADP)
Soil and water management interventions
Zambia Promotion of Fertiliser Trees in Eastern Zambia
Conservation Agriculture Programme
Dissemination and promotion approaches being applied
• Farmer field schools. • Framer-to-farmer exchange visits• Media (exhibition shows, TV and radio) • Farmer Research Groups (FRG)• Learning from demonstration plots• Demand driven extension method• Lead-farmer concept• Training of trainers concept• The study circle concept• Platforms utilization• Participatory Extension Approach (PEA); and others
Numerous relevant training materials exist for the target areas
Category of training material Number identified
ISFM 9Agroforestry 5Conservation agriculture 15Agro-dealer training material 3
AfricaRising: Combining AfSIS-LDSF sites and NARS Rain gauge stations
LDSF sites3- Tanzania3- Zambia2- Malawi
Rainfall Station3-Tanzania55- Malawi11- Zambia
Identifying land degradation hotspots and soil health constraints to agricultural productivity
Modeling Cultivated Areas and Erosion Prevalence
Cultivated areas (TRUE) have higher erosion risk compared to non-cultivated plots (FALSE) in only two sites.
All sites have mixed a mix of cultivated and non-cultivated areas, indicating the complexity of landuses across the landscape.
Assessing Soil Health: Soil organic carbon (SOC) content
Mean topsoil OC content at five sites
Mbinga, Tanzania
Longitude
Lati
tud
e
Assessing Landscape Variation in Yield: Thuchila, Malawi
Crop response varies across the landscape and between treatments.
Assessing Variation in TN and SOC: Thuchila, Malawi
Research questions: How do SOC and TN concentrations affect crop response? How does erosion prevalence affect crop response? Which ecological and soil variables explain the variation in crop response, across the landscape.
Beyond AfricaRISING Quick Win: Increase the number of sites and co-located ecological and agronomic assessmentsSuggested LDSF Site Locations
4-Zambia3-Malawi4-Tanzania
Objectives: To produce Africa Rising regional assessments and maps of land degradation and soil health.
To link ecological and socio-economic baseline
data.
Beyond AfricaRISING Quick Win: Linking infrared spectroscopy and crop productivity.
Concluding RemarksTechnologies, learning materials and policies to get intensification moving are already existing.
Effort is needed to increase agro-input dealers and extension teams on the ground.
Soil and ecological variables are needed to explain all variation of crop response.
Land Degradation Surveillance Framework (LDSF) is an appropriate tool for assessing land and ecosystem health.
Collaboration across CGIAR centres, NARS, and local organizations in critical.