No abstract

Inherent low soil nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) is one of the major hindrances of increased soybean productivity in Malawian soils. Although, inoculation of legumes with rhizobia, has been advocated for decades as a way of boosting leguminous crops' productivity through biological nitrogen fixation (BNF), the effectiveness of this strategy, has been low. An experiment was carried out to investigate the effect of the application of small doses of N and P to inoculated soybean. It was laid out in a complete block design (CBD) replicated three times and the treatments included: 1. Soybean only, 2. Inoculated soybean, 3. Inoculated soybean + 30 kg N ha -1

This paper reviews the progress in climate change adaptation and mitigation actions in sub-Saharan Africa farming systems. Farmers, organizations and Governments in the region have developed policies and innovations to adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change. It appears that the developed and implemented innovative adaptive farming systems and technologies have culminated into resultant overall productivity improvement in farming systems, necessitating scaling up in order to widely strengthen the resilience and adaptive capacity of vulnerable communities to the impacts of climate change. Additionally, climate governance instruments that are aligned to the ratified international treaties have been developed and related programs have been rolled out in different countries. This offers hope for well-coordinated efforts and interventions for the mitigation and adaptation to the adverse impacts of climate change on the environment and livelihoods. Observably, there is a pressing need to scale up climate smart innovations sustainably through creation of an enabling policy environment, capacity building, and conducting climate change related research and outreach, and effective dissemination of climate technologies and information, especially in remote areas in the region. Since climate change is a global issue, local initiatives and actions for mitigating and adapting to the adverse impacts ought to be well integrated into the broader international context.

On average Malawi is losing of 40 kg N ha -1 and 6.6 kg P ha -1 annually. Additionally, nutrient use efficiency (NUE) is low as a result of declining levels of soil organic matter (SOM) and associated deficiencies of other macro and micronutrients. This is usually below 20 kg maize grain kg -1 of nutrients applied. To investigate on the possibility of improving NUE a study was initiated in the 2011/12 cropping season with a parallel trial mounted along side in the second season, both were laid in a randomized complete block design replicated three times. The trials involved planting of pigeon pea as monocultures or as intercrops. The main trial had eight treatments while the parallel trial had ten treatments. After the first season legume biomass in some plots of the main trial was buried into the soil. Soil characterization was conducted before treatment application in the first and second year. Data were analyzed using genstat and subjected to analysis of variance at 5% level of confidence. Means were separated using the least significant difference. Generally, the soil chemical characteristics for soil samples collected in all the

Integrated soil fertility management was promoted on-farm during the 2018/2019 cropping season in Thyolo, Phalombe, Mulanje and Zomba districts of southern Malawi, in purposively selected extension planning areas (EPAs). Sixty farmers, fifteen from each district were involved. Trials were established in farmers’ fields with smallholder farms as replicates and extension EPAs as blocks. The following were the treatments; Maize + 92 kg N ha-1 + 46 kg of P ha-1; Maize + 3 tons of compost manure ha-1; and Maize + 46 kg N ha-1 + 23 kg P ha-1 + 1.5 tons of compost manure. Grain yield data were collected at harvest. The data were analyzed in Genstat Discovery Edition 4 and were subjected to ANOVA at 95% level of confidence. Means were separated by the least significant difference (LSD0.05). No significant differences (>0.05) in Maize grain yields were observed between the treatment with Maize + 46 kg N ha-1 + 23 kg P ha-1 + 1.5 tons of compost manure and the treatment with Maize + 92 kg N ha-1 + 46 kg of P ha-1 in all the districts. Maize grain yields were significantly lower in plots treated with the full rate of manure (3 tons of compost manure ha-1) in Thyolo, Mulanje and Zomba district. Higher maize grain yields were registered in Phalombe (3,867-4,838 kg ha-1), followed by Thyolo (1,764-2,374 kg ha-1) and Zomba (740-1,120 kg ha-1). The trials confirmed that applying a combination of organic and inorganic fertilizer to maize, increase grain yields.

In the wake of climate change, climate-smart agriculture has been proposed as an option for mitigation and adaptation to the attendant harsh impacts among smallholder farmers in Africa. The approach has been promoted for nearly two decades in Kenya, Nigeria, and Malawi, but with low adoption among farmers. This study therefore sought to determine the pathways for sustainable scaling of climate-smart agricultural technologies and practices in the three countries. Secondary and primary data were obtained from desk review, field survey, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and multivariate probit regression. The multivariate probit regression result showed eight negative correlated coefficients between the climate-smart agriculture technologies and practices adopted, thus implying that the practices are substitutes for each other. It was observed that gender had no significant influence on the adoption of a set of practices (refuse retention, minimum tillage, green manure, and mulching) but influenced significantly the adoption of early maturing varieties. Implicitly, therefore, apart from gender, the adoption of climate-smart agriculture technologies and practices might often be due to other factors.

Low productivity characterizes the production of groundnut among smallholder farmers in Malawi. There is a need to explore options capable of increasing the productivity of the crop sustainably more especially under the changing climate. Against this background, experiments were conducted during the 2016/17 cropping season to investigate the potential to enhance the productivity of groundnut in Malawi through the combined use of inoculants (Graph-Ex and Histick-BASF) and foliar application of nutrients using Allwin fertilizer (legumes). The experiments were established at Bvumbwe and Chitala Agricultural research Stations and were laid in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) replicated four times. Data collected were analyzed in Genstat Discovery Edition 4 and were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) at a 95% level of confidence. Means were separated by the least significant difference (LSD0.05). In general, foliar application of Allwin fertilizer alone particularly when conducted twice at two and four weeks after emergence produced a positive significant (p<0.05) groundnut grain yield response (97.8-170.8%) above the control. The yield increase is attributable to enhanced growth and development of the groundnut through the foliar supply of nutrients. In general, under the changing climate and amidst other constraints foliar feeding of nutrients using Allwin fertilizer alone particularly when conducted twice can increase significantly groundnut productivity in Malawi.

In Malawi, inoculating soybean with rhizobia, has been advocated for decades as a way of boosting productivity through enhancement of biological nitrogen fixation. The effectiveness of this strategy however, has been constrained by the low soil fertility status of soils in Malawi, necessitating the use of mineral fertilizer to supply nutrients to the soybean for increased productivity. Alternative strategies like foliar feeding of nutrients to improve grain yields are yet to be widely promoted due to lack of research evidence. Therefore experiments involving the soybean were conducted during the 2016/17 cropping season, laid in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) replicated four times, at Bvumbwe, Bembeke and Chitala  in Malawi to evaluate yields response to foliar feeding using a foliar fertilizer (Allwin-legumes). Agronomic data were analyzed in Genstat Discovery Edition 4 and were subjected to analysis of variance at 95% level of confidence. Means were separated using the least significant difference (LSD0.05). Generally, the result indicate that foliar feeding produced significantly higher (p<0.05) grain yields ranging from 33.7-364.7%, above the control across the different agro-ecological zones. The result underscores the importance of judicious and methodical application of nutrients to soybean under the changing climate and conditions of low soil fertility. In general, foliar feeding using Allwin fertilizer particularly when conducted twice can increase significantly soybean productivity in Malawi. The grain yields increase is attributable to the enhanced crop growth and development through foliar supply of nutrients.