Knowledge Resource Center for Ecological Environment in Arid Area
DOI | 10.1016/j.still.2014.09.003 |
Conservation tillage of rainfed maize in semi-arid Zimbabwe: A review | |
Nyakudya, Innocent Wadzanayi1; Stroosnijder, Leo2 | |
通讯作者 | Nyakudya, Innocent Wadzanayi |
来源期刊 | SOIL & TILLAGE RESEARCH
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ISSN | 0167-1987 |
EISSN | 1879-3444 |
出版年 | 2015 |
卷号 | 145页码:184-197 |
英文摘要 | Food security in Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in semi-arid tropics (41% of the region; <800 mm annual rainfall often coming in storms and >6 months of dry season) is threatened by droughts, dry spells and infertile soils. In Zimbabwe, 74% of smallholder farming areas are located in semi-arid areas mostly in areas with soils of low fertility and water holding capacity. The dominant crop in these areas, maize (Zea mays L.), is susceptible to drought. Under smallholder farming in Zimbabwe, conventional tillage entails cutting and turning the soil with a mouldboard plough thereby burying weeds and crop residues. Seed is planted by hand into a furrow made by the plough, ensuring that crops germinate in relatively weed free seedbeds. Inter-row weed control is performed using the plough or ox-drawn cultivators and hand hoes. Conventional tillage has been criticised for failure to alleviate negative effects of long dry spells on crops and to combat soil loss caused by water erosion estimated at 50 to 80 t ha(-1) yr(-1). Therefore, conservation tillage has been explored for improving soil and water conservation and crop yields. Our objective was to determine the maize yield advantage of the introduced technology (conservation tillage) over conventional tillage (farmers’ practice) based on a review of experiments in semi-arid Zimbabwe. We use a broad definition of conservation tillage instead of the common definition of >= 30% cover after planting. Eight tillage experiments conducted between 1984 and 2008 were evaluated. Conventional tillage included ploughing using the mouldboard plough and digging using a hand hoe. Conservation tillage included tied ridging (furrow diking), mulch ripping, clean ripping and planting pits. Field-edge methods included bench terraces (fanya juus) and infiltration pits. Results showed small yield advantages of conservation tillage methods below 500 mm rainfall. For grain yields <= 2.5 t ha(-1) and rainfall <= 500 mm, 1.0 m tied ridging produced 144 kg ha(-1) and mulch ripping 344 kg ha(-1) more than conventional tillage. Above 2.5 t ha(-1) and for rainfall >500 mm, conventional tillage had >= 640 kg ha(-1) yield advantage. Planting pits had similar performance to ripping and conventional tillage but faced digging labour constraints. Experiments and modelling are required to test conservation tillage seasonal rainfall thresholds. Constraints to adoption of conservation tillage by smallholder farmers necessitate best agronomic practices under conventional tillage while work on adoption of alternative tillage methods continues. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. |
英文关键词 | Conservation tillage Maize yield Semi-arid Zimbabwe Rainfall threshold Smallholder farmer Resource constraints |
类型 | Review |
语种 | 英语 |
国家 | Zimbabwe ; Netherlands |
收录类别 | SCI-E |
WOS记录号 | WOS:000345183400022 |
WOS关键词 | ZEA-MAYS L. ; WATER CONSERVATION ; SOIL FERTILITY ; SANDY SOILS ; SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE ; RURAL LIVELIHOODS ; SMALLHOLDER FARMS ; USE EFFICIENCY ; RAINWATER USE ; MANAGEMENT |
WOS类目 | Soil Science |
WOS研究方向 | Agriculture |
来源机构 | Arizona State University |
资源类型 | 期刊论文 |
条目标识符 | http://119.78.100.177/qdio/handle/2XILL650/190456 |
作者单位 | 1.Bindura Univ Sci Educ, Dept Crop Sci, Bindura, Zimbabwe; 2.Wageningen Univ, Soil Phys and Land Management Grp, NL-6708 PB Wageningen, Netherlands |
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714 | Nyakudya, Innocent Wadzanayi,Stroosnijder, Leo. Conservation tillage of rainfed maize in semi-arid Zimbabwe: A review[J]. Arizona State University,2015,145:184-197. |
APA | Nyakudya, Innocent Wadzanayi,&Stroosnijder, Leo.(2015).Conservation tillage of rainfed maize in semi-arid Zimbabwe: A review.SOIL & TILLAGE RESEARCH,145,184-197. |
MLA | Nyakudya, Innocent Wadzanayi,et al."Conservation tillage of rainfed maize in semi-arid Zimbabwe: A review".SOIL & TILLAGE RESEARCH 145(2015):184-197. |
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