By Peter Langmead
Abstract
– Hoe Conservation
Farming practice in Zambia focuses on the retention of residues, restricting
tillage of the land to the area where the seed is to be sown, completion of land
preparation in the dry season, establishment of precise and permanent planting
basins, precision use of inputs, early and continuous weeding, and rotations.
The method is compared with conventional farm practice with the same inputs. The
result from on-farm trials in agro-ecological regions IIa and III in Zambia
among smallholder farmers with the same inputs shows an average increase in
maize yield of 77 per cent after controlling for planting dates, rotations,
residues and weeding effort, socio-economic factors and location, management and
environment, at a lower risk. Lime and inoculum increased yields by 32 per cent.
Planting dates, rotations, residues and weeding effort contributed 29 per cent,
11 per cent, 9 per cent and 17 per cent respectively to the yield increase
attributed to conservation farming method. Socio-economic factors explained 17
per cent of yield, age and number of hoes contributing around nine per cent each
and education 13 per cent. Household size and bicycles had 11 per cent and four
per cent negative impacts respectively.
By Peter Langmead
Abstract - The performance of cotton, groundnuts
and soybean under hoe conservation farming culture in Zambia is examined with a
GLS model weighted for groupwise error variance and controlled for location and
planting dates, and the socio-economic factors of age, gender, education,
household size and other wealth indicators. Basal dressing increases cotton
yields by 26 per cent and lime and basal dressing increases yield by 46 per
cent, both with net benefits. Adding lime to groundnuts already with basal
dressing increases yield by 21 per cent in conservation farming basins and by 18
per cent on permanent ridges. Converting to permanent ridges, with lime, from
conservation farming basins, without lime, increases yield by 35 per cent.
Adding lime to cotton or to soybean already with basal dressing did not have
significant responses.
Key
Words:
Conservation farming, Hoe cultivation, Oxen cultivation, smallholder,
small-scale farming, planting date, lime, inoculum, yield
risk, age, gender, education, socio-economic factors, sustainable food
production, Zambia, conservation farming unit, cash crops, sustainable
agriculture.
By Peter Langmead
The purpose of the trial is to find the impact of lime and root inoculum individually and jointly on maize yields in conservation farming basins in the region IIa agro-ecological zone.
By Peter Langmead
There
are four key questions:
1)
Is maize responsive to
lime in region III?
2)
Are
conservation farming basins and conservation farming permanent ridges effective
farming systems in region III?
3) Is maize
intercropped and rotated in situ with sunnhemp as viable as sole-cropped maize
rotated with groundnuts?
4) and is there any evidence of the rotation with groundnuts increasing sole-cropped maize yields?
By Peter Langmead
The
first purpose of the study is to investigate the yield performance of groundnuts
with and without lime by conservation farming method and conventional farming
practice, in region III agro-ecological zone. The second is to establish the
yield performance of groundnuts under conservation farming basins, conventional
farming practice and conservation farming permanent ridges in region III
agro-ecological zone. The trials are in region III agro-ecological zone, in
Northern and Copperbelt regions.
By Peter Langmead
The
objective is to establish whether the observed increases in maize yields over
time are real, in plots demonstrating conservation farming basins and a
three-year rotation including maize, cotton and a legume, and if so, whether
they can be explained by farmer experience or to increasing pH individually or
jointly.
By Peter Langmead
The
purpose is to find
1)
the response of
maize to lime under conservation farming basins in region IIa agro-ecological
zone.
2)
if maize
intercropped with red sunnhemp and rotated in situ is viable as a
sole-cropped maize in conservation farming basins in region IIa.
By Peter Langmead
The
purpose of the trial is to find the impact of lime and fertiliser on cotton in
conservation farming basins in the region IIa agro-ecological
By Peter Langmead
The
purpose of the trial is to find the impact of lime on maize and soyabean yields
in conservation farming basins in the region IIa agro-ecological zone. The maize
and soyabean are under a two-year rotation, but this is the first year of the
trial, so no time effect can be measured.
By Peter Langmead
The
demonstration plots are three-year rotations based on maize, cotton and a
legume; auxiliary plots are paired with the demonstration plots and receive the
same inputs, but are not advised about conservation farming practice. The
questions are 1) what is the yield difference between the three-year rotation in
conservation farming basins and the conventional farming practice in region IIa
agro-ecological zone; 2) what is the economic contribution of conservation
farming basins per hectare; 3) what are the contributions of early planting and
basins to conservation farming; 4) and what do oxen contribute to yields?