1. Gliding on biological N2-fixation
Regis Chikowo
&
Africa RISING Team

2. Africa RISING (Research in Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation)
Soaring like eagles

3. Africa RISING
Focuses on agricultural intensification
Address farm-level issues (beyond the plot and field)
Focus on staple foods within major farming systems but with links to nutrition and diversification
Integrate multiple stakeholders

4. Project purpose
Provide pathways out of hunger and poverty for small holder families through sustainably intensified farming systems that sufficiently improve food, nutrition, and income security, particularly for women and children, and conserve or enhance the natural resource base.

5. Community
Farmers diverse

6. Nsipe

8. What we know…. Soils are the base resource for agriculture
Genotype x Environment x Management
Farming systems underperforming -operating well below their potential

9. Alarming yield gaps Crop Actual yields (t/ha) Attainable yields (t/ha)
Maize 1 4+
Soyabean
0.6
1.8+
Groundnut
1.5+

10. Participation and co-learning mode
A key philosophy of the work ..
.....to learn with farmers and refine technical options that provide robust intensification trajectories, best fitting local framer circumstances in the face of
a degrading natural resource base
climate change and variability

11. Ingredients that lead to success…
Integration of local, conventional, and emerging knowledge on superior agricultural innovations
promotion or farm level adaptive testing of innovations to address local-level problems
active participation of an alliance of researchers, service providers, including extension agencies and farmers

12. Labour productivity…soil fertility

13. Legumes to harness N2 to organic form

14. Yield-determining factors

15. Yield-determining factors

16. Responding to different farm/socioeconomic circumstances …
Interrogating circumstances for
Intensified mineral fertilizer use
Rotational systems
Intercropping systems
Doubled-up legume systems

17. The legume story…. Grown for food-cash
Reinforcing farming systems –an ecological perspective

18. Some serious biochemistry happening here…

19. Root nodules

20. Biological N2-fixation

21. G x E x M G = genotype (crop, rhizobia strain) E=environment
M= management (agronomy)

22. Nodulation
Nod D genes

23. X X X

24. When land is too constraining..
Increasing land productivity is a must
We have to go an extra mile with our innovations
Beyond the ‘low hanging fruits’

25. The doubled-up legume technology Intercropping two grain legumes
Legume –legume intercrops (double legume) based on different crop growth habits /architecture
one of the crops starts growth slowly
Both crops planted at their optimum spacing (as in sole cropping – additive intercropping design)
two grain crops harvested
soil fertility benefits larger
The pigeonpea/groundnut doubled up system the best

26. Doubled-up legumes – intercropping two legumes that have little inter-specific competition for resources

27. When groundnut is almost mature, pigeonpea begins vigorous growth

28. Then flowers and pods form

29. Sole and doubled-up legumes are highly beneficial to maize in sequence!

30. Africa RISING – Sustainable Intensification and building resilience

31. Drip irrigation

32. Drop for grain..

33. Thank You