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Increasing conservation agriculture (CA) options for smallholder farmers in different agro-ecological regions of Zimbabwe Walter Mupangwa, Christian Thierfelder.

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Presentation on theme: "Increasing conservation agriculture (CA) options for smallholder farmers in different agro-ecological regions of Zimbabwe Walter Mupangwa, Christian Thierfelder."— Presentation transcript:

1 Increasing conservation agriculture (CA) options for smallholder farmers in different agro-ecological regions of Zimbabwe Walter Mupangwa, Christian Thierfelder & Munyaradzi Mutenje Africa Congress on Conservation Agriculture 18–21 March 2014 Lusaka, Zambia

2 Farming Systems at Study Sites
Mixed crop/livestock Conventional agriculture Food crops: Maize, sorghum, pearl millet, groundnuts, bambaranuts, cowpea Cash crops: Cotton, tobacco, soybeans Crop associations: Full rotations of cereal/legumes rare, intercrops common Dry spells, low soil fertility

3 CA options introduced Study districts: Gokwe, Kariba and Zaka
Hand dug planting basins Animal traction ripline seeding Study districts: Gokwe, Kariba and Zaka Animal traction direct seeding

4 … CA options introduced
Crops grown: maize (SC513), soybean (Safari) and cowpea (CBC 2) Maize rotated with cowpea (NR 4) and soybean (NR 3) in each cropping system Equal fertilization: basal 150 kgha-1 compound D & topdressing (34.5% 200 kgha-1 ammonium nitrate Soybean inoculated, fertilized with soya-blend (6N:27P2O5:20K2O) at 165 kgha-1 Weed control: Glyphosate at seeding (2.5 l ha-1) in CA, manual weeding when necessary

5 Results from 2010/11-2012/13 seasons

6 Seasonal rainfall

7 No significant differences in first season-NR 3
Higher yields in DS in subsequent seasons-NR 3

8 Yield responses variable – NR 4
Higher yields in basins – NR 4

9 Higher yield in AT CA options – NR 3
Low yield in basins – low crop stand – NR 3

10 No significant yield differences in first season - NR 4
Higher yields in AT CA with time - NR 4

11 Net benefits of cropping systems- NR 3 (2013)
Conv.-Maize Basins-Maize Ripper-Maize DS-Maize Conv.-soya Basins-soya Ripper-soya DS-soya TOTAL BENEFITS ($/ha) 1615 1414 1374 1803 1106 1013 1685 1858 COSTS ($/ha) LABOUR 237 257 191 136 236 157 INPUTS 359 281 TOTAL VARIABLE COSTS ($/ha) 596 616 550 495 517 438 472 417 GROSS BENEFITS ($/ha) NET BENEFITS ($/ha) 1019 798 824 1308 589 575 1213 1441

12 Net benefits of cropping systems- NR 4 (2013)
Conv.-Maize Basins-Maize Ripper-Maize DS-Maize Conv.-cowpea Basins-cowpea Ripper-cowpea DS-cowpea TOTAL BENEFITS ($/ha) 1241 1260 1285 1343 993 884 1417 1327 COSTS ($/ha) LABOUR 186 233 211 33 182 230 208 81 INPUTS 305 125 TOTAL VARIABLE COSTS ($) 491 538 516 338 307 355 333 206 GROSS BENEFITS ($/ha) NET BENEFITS ($/ha) 750 722 769 1005 686 529 1084 1121

13 Lessons learnt Socio-economic benefits (e.g. reduced time and labor) increase farmer acceptance in the short term Farmer-to-farmer exchange visits are effective for better understanding of new technologies More training on CA equipment and herbicides – bad experiences with equipment/herbicides discourage farmers Farmer discussion during exchange visit

14 Lessons learnt CA equipment development: extensive participatory process – requires time to perfect equipment CA equipment manufacturers require pre-financing CA equipment still not widely available Credit facility increases accessibility of equipment and adoption CA technology Prototype 1 Prototype 2

15 Concluding Remarks AT CA options offer alternative to increase crop productivity in different NRs DS CA system gives the highest net benefits – reduced production costs + higher crop yields Basin CA system gives the lowest benefits - higher production costs Higher maize yields in basin system in NR 4 – rainwater harvesting More investments in CA equipment development Credit facility to encourage adoption of CA technologies

16 Thank You


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