The southern highlands zone of Tanzania is the one of the most potential area for agriculture contributes up to 46% of the total country's maize production. However, the rate of maize production tends to decrease with time due of poor agronomic practices. The aim of this study was to simulate the effect of nitrogen dose and plant spacing on grain yields from five selected maize varieties. Decision Support System for Agrotechnology transfer crop model was used for this purpose. Based on the agroecological zones, six sites were selected which includes Ihumbu farm, Mwazye and Nyera Estate Mbozi, Lupa Tinga Tinga, Santilya and Mbinga. Maize varieties H614, Kitumani Composite I, H511, H626 and H612; Spacing (90 × 30 cm and 60 × 30 cm) and nitrogen dose (0, 50, 100, 150 and 200 kg/ha) were simulated. It was found that only H614 (4610.9 kg/ha) and Kitumani Composite I (3998.7 kg/ha) maize varieties performed well at the spacing of 60 × 30 cm and up to the nitrogen dose of 150 kg/ha. Therefore the two maize varieties H614 and Kitumani Composite I could be recommended for cultivation at the spacing of 60 × 30 cm and nitrogen dose of 150 kg/ha for improving production of maize in southern highland of Tanzania.
Haridwar district in south west Uttarakhand India is agriculturally very sensitive as this contributes about 35% food grain and 80% sugar to the total production of the state. Weather conditions affected production both directly and indirectly. DSSAT is a very useful tool presently available for yield forecasting taking into account the weather condition, soil condition, crop management condition and genetic coefficients. Weather data was collected from the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee whereas the data of soil, crop management and genetic coefficients were collected conducting survey from different parts of the district. Acreage and yield data of rice, wheat and sugarcane of the district was obtained from the office of the Director Agriculture Uttarakhand for the period 2000-2011. Weather data analyzed using DSSAT recorded 1026 mm/year average annual rain with 68 rainy days/year and 65% probability of wetness/year in Haridwar. Actual average yield of rice, wheat and sugarcane was reported as 22.4 q/ha, 25.0 q/ha and 609 q/ha respectively. The DSSAT however forecasted the average yield of rice and wheat as 26.3 q/ha and 28.2 q/ha respectively. Marginally higher forecast of yield in rice and wheat over the actual through DSSAT needs further scrutiny. Regression model however responded at par with the actual forecasting the average yield in rice as 22.9 q/ha, wheat as 25.2 q/ha and sugarcane as 610 q/h. These observations confirm the scope of using DSSAT in characterising weather condition and crop yield forecasting in Uttarakhand.
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