Experiences with legumes in D R Congo Prof. WALANGULULU MASAMBA Dean of the faculty of agriculture Université Catholique de Bukavu

Content Main legume crops Secondary legume crops Constraints Past initiatives to promote legumes On going initiatives to promote legumes

Main Cropping zones of groundnut Farming system: pure stand, associated with maize and cassava Use: dry grain Yield: 1500 to 2000 kg of dry pods in pure stand, 600 to 900 kg in association Use: consumption, industry Growth habit :bunchy and erected types

Main cropping zones of beans and cowpea Cowpea: mainly in Kasai Beans: along the easter border (mid and high altitude) Growth habit: bush and climbing beans Farming system: pure stand and association for both, rainfed, also in marshland in the dry season Use: dry gain, young leaves as vegetables

Main cropping zones of soybean Use: consumptium and industry Farming system: pure stand and association Yield: kg/ha in smallscale farms

Secondary legumes Bambara groundnut: cropped where pigeon pea and groundnut are cropped (savannah); yield: kg/ha in traditional farming; use:dry grain Pigeon pea:cropped as backyard; use: dry grain, green grains, dry stems as firewood Peas: cropped in high altitude; use: dry and green grains

Constraints in legume production Beans and cowpea: pests, conservation of production, stakes for climbing beans, mixture of genotypes for beans in traditional farming, market Soya: rapid deterioration of seed germination viability, nematods Groundnut: pests and diseases, market

Constraints in legume production (cont’d) Seed production Fertilizer use in legume based system constrained by high costs, high soil variability

Past initiatives to promote legumes Germoplasm evaluation:15 soybean (5 best), 10 beans (5 best) in Sud Kivu, 31 cowpea (11 best) and 1 soybean in Bas-Congo Spatial arrangement to increase number of legume season cropping under intercopping with cassava, banana, maize and coffee ISFM in legume based system Processing legume products by training women Maize as stake for climbing beans

Past initiatives (cont’d )

Baseline of the current status of N2-fixation; identify niches for targeting N2-fixing legumes in the impact zones, M&E and impact assessment Select multi-purpose legumes (food, fodder, stakes, and soil fertility management) for enhanced BNF and integrate these into farming systems Select superior rhizobia strains for enhanced BNF and develop inoculum production capacity Deliver legume and inoculant technologies to farmers throughout mid and high altitudes Develop and strengthen capacity for BNF research, technology development, and application

On going initiatives to promote legumes Select superior rhizobia strains for enhanced BNF and develop inoculum production capacity Deliver legume and inoculant technologies to farmers throughout mid and high altitudes Develop and strengthen capacity for BNF research, technology development, and application Understand soil unresponsiveness under legume cultivation Improve farming system of legume based by integrating livestock

On going initiatives (cont’d) Farm level diagnosis of current functions and constraints A suite of proven, farmer- and system-specific legume-based options for system intensification A decision support framework for enhancing the contributions of legumes to farmer livelihoods