Agronomic and economic response of tillage and water conservation management in maize, central rift valley in Ethiopia

Abstract

A B S T R A C TIn response to the intensive tillage in maize, operating under high seasonal rainfall variability, this study examined the agronomic and economic responses of tillage and water conservation management in the central rift valley (CRV) of Ethiopia. An experiment was laid out as a split plot design with conventional tillage (CT), minimum tillage (MT) and zero tillage (ZT) as main plots and mulch, no mulch and planting basin as subplots. The MT and ZT were considered as conservation agriculture (CA) plots. Results showed that CT had 13-20% higher grain yield than MT and 40-55% higher than ZT; and MT had 27-37% higher yields than ZT. Mulching had 23-33% and 14-19% higher grain yield than no mulch and planting basin respectively. The CT had 28 and 89% higher labor productivity and 6 and 60% higher gross margin than MT and ZT respectively. The MT had 37% higher gross margin than ZT. The highest yield response in CT resulted in its highest gross margin and labor productivity. This shows that regardless of water conservation management, CT yielded better agronomic and economic responses over CA. However, the practice of CT is highly constrained by the availability of draft power and the short window period for planting. Likewise, regardless of tillage management, mulching tended to be more attractive and promising in suppressing weed density and hence reducing labor demand for weeding, despite improving volumetric soil moisture content and maize yield. Yet the viability of practicing mulching is highly constrained by the widely practiced open grazing on stubble after harvest. Therefore, future studies are needed to further identify appropriate tillage and water conservation management which make maize more resilient to the high rainfall variability, and sustainably improve food security, and farmers' livelihoods in the CRV of Ethiopia.2014 Published by Elsevier B.V.

The Effects of Tillage-Induced Soil Disturbance on Weed Infestation of Winter Wheat

“…Difficulties in weed infestation that occurred in the first years have been noticeably reduced and the mean total weed coverage ratio has also dropped below seven (Tables 2-3). This finding is in harmony with the statements of authors [14,31] who attributed the weed suppression effect to the narrow-row crops, including wheat and secondary cover crops.…”

“…Dang et al [11] claimed to apply reduced long-term soil disturbance in order to achieve and maintain the complex advantages of this mode, which is soil preservation, acceptable yield, reduced weed infestation, etc. Sime et al [14] and Mas and Verdú [9] highlighted that the decrease in weed infestation could be a parallel solution with soil condition improvement.…”

“…The use of straw mulch in dry soils can result in a significant suppression of weed density [14][15]. Weed germination may be limited by the blocking of the illumination of the soil surface and by allelopathic effects of the plant residues [9].…”

Sustainability of Improved Crop Varieties and Agricultural Practices: A Case Study in the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia

“…Crop residues are the main source of feed for livestock, particularly during the dry season. Livestock also graze freely on the crop residues after crop harvests [23,33].…”

“…In particular, the widespread practice of free-roaming livestock in the Rift valley is one of the key reasons for discontinuing conservation agriculture. Free grazing on stubble after harvest is not compatible with conservation agriculture, which includes retaining crop residues as mulch [23,33]. However, conservation tillage is still an option in the central Rift Valley around homesteads, where it is possible to prevent free grazing with traditional fences [33].…”