Artigo Revisado por pares

Integration of conservation agriculture in smallholder farming systems of southern Africa: identification of key entry points

2013; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 11; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/14735903.2013.764222

ISSN

1747-762X

Autores

Christian Thierfelder, Talkmore Mombeyarara, Nelson Mango, Léonard Rusinamhodzi,

Tópico(s)

Climate change impacts on agriculture

Resumo

AbstractA component-omission experiment based on the principle of conservation agriculture (CA) was established on smallholder farms for three seasons in Murehwa and Hwedza districts, Zimbabwe; Barue district in Mozambique; Balaka district and Chitedze Research Station in Malawi, and Monze district in Zambia to identify strategies for improving crop productivity and livelihoods for smallholder farmers. The objective of the experiment was to evaluate the effect of tillage, residue retention, fertiliser application and weed control on maize yield. In addition, the study analysed possible combinations of these factors that could provide a sustainable entry point for intensification through CA. Results showed that fertilisation had the strongest effect on crop yield in both tillage systems; adequate fertilisation is therefore key to success in CA. Retention of crop harvest residues increased yield in no-tillage systems; no-tillage without residues depressed yield by 50% when compared with yields of conventional tillage. A step-wise integration of CA into the smallholder farming systems is proposed as a possible strategy to avoid new constraints on smallholder farms. If resources are limiting, farmers may apply all principles on small areas to overcome the initial demand in resources (labour, fertiliser and residues), and once productivity is raised, they can expand.Keywords: maize yieldno-tillageresidue retentionsmallholder farming systemsstep-wise integrationsustainable agriculture AcknowledgementsWe are grateful to Mphatso Gama and Ivy Ligowe (Malawi), Sign Phiri and Herbert Chipara (Zimbabwe), Felisardo Chicoche and Zacarias Bango (Mozambique) and Mwangala Sitali (Zambia) for the management of field experiments and data collection. Financial support from CIMMYT and CIAT through the SSA-CP project funded by FARA and the CA project funded by IFAD is sincerely appreciated.

Referência(s)