Evaluation of two risk assessment methods for sowing maize in Kenya

Kipkorir, Emmanuel C.; Raes, Dirk; Bargerei, Rosemary J.; Mugalavai, Edward M.

doi:10.1016/j.agrformet.2007.02.008

Cited by 22 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 4 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Dry planting is most appropriate on soils with high clay content which are difficult to work when wet and where serious delays can occur before the field is dry enough to plant. Dry planting can benefit early crop establishment and result in a longer crop growing season (Kipkorir et al, 2007). Dry compared with wet soil planting is easier with vertisols and smallholder manpower is more available before compared with after onset of rainfall.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Dry Soil Planting of Maize for Variable Onset of Rainfall in Ethiopia

2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Farmers in water-limited environments of the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia (CRVE) practice dry soil planting of maize (Zea mays L.) on Vertisols in response to variable onset of rainfall and because of the diffi culties of working on these soils when wet. However, little information is available for improving this practice. Th erefore the eff ect of dry soil planting depth for two maize cultivars was evaluated on Vertisols at Welenchiti and Miesso in the CRVE. Dry soil planting depths were 4, 7, and 10 cm, and with broadcasted seed incorporated to varied depths (BC). Th ere were three soil water defi cit scenarios (W1, W2, W3 are soil water defi cit regimes with 30, 15, and 0 mm water applied aft er dry soil planting, respectively, and then 30 mm added at 15, 20, and 25 d aft er planting). Th e highest plant survival (90% of planted seeds) at Miesso was with 7-cm planting depth with W3. Th e lowest survival (31%) was with BC and with W2 soil water defi cit regime at Welenchiti. Compared with other dry soil planting depths on Vertisols, maize survival was greatest with planting at 7-cm depth across all soil water defi cit scenarios. Maize was more tolerant of W3 compared with W1 and W2 soil water defi cit scenarios. Success with dry soil planting of maize on Vertisols can be improved by planting at 7-cm depth compared with the farmers' variable depth practice, and if timed to reduce the risk of W1 and W2 type conditions occurring.

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Dry Soil Planting of Maize for Variable Onset of Rainfall in Ethiopia

2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This region, which is often referred to as the "Maize Basket of Kenya, " benefits from a relatively mild climate at elevations between 1600 and 2200 m above sea level. Due to its high soil fertility, this area is of vital importance for Kenya's food security, and it constitutes a major supplier of (hybrid) maize seeds for the whole country (Kipkorir et al, 2007). The present study was part of a project focusing on climate change impacts on smallholder farmers and natural ecology in the East-African highlands.…”

Section: Methodology Study Regionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate analogs for agricultural impact projection and adaptation—a reliability test

Bos

Pagella

Kindt

et al. 2015

Front. Environ. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The climate analog approach is often considered a valuable tool for climate change impact projection and adaptation planning, especially for complex systems that cannot be modeled reliably. Important examples are smallholder farming systems using agroforestry or other mixed-cropping approaches. For the projected climate at a particular site of interest, the analog approach identifies locations where the current climate is similar to these projected conditions. By comparing baseline-analog site pairs, information on climate impacts and opportunities for adaptation can be obtained. However, the climate analog approach is only meaningful, if climate is a dominant driver of differences between baseline and analog site pairs. For a smallholder farming setting on Mt. Elgon in Kenya, we tested this requirement by comparing yield potentials of maize and coffee (obtained from the IIASA Global Agro-ecological Zones dataset) among 50 close analog sites for different future climate scenarios and models, and by comparing local ecological knowledge and farm characteristics for one baseline-analog pair. Yield potentials among the 50 closest analog locations varied strongly within all climate scenarios, hinting at factors other than climate as major drivers of what the analog approach might interpret as climate effects. However, on average future climatic conditions seemed more favorable to maize and coffee cultivation than current conditions. The detailed site comparison revealed substantial differences between farms in important characteristics, such as farm size and presence of cash crops, casting doubt on the usefulness of the comparison for climate change analysis. Climatic constraints were similar between sites, so that no apparent lessons for adaptation could be derived. Pests and diseases were also similar, indicating that climate change may not lead to strong changes in biotic constraints at the baseline site in the near future. From both analyses, it appeared that differences between baseline and analog sites were mostly explained by non-climatic factors. This does not bode well for using the analog approach for impact projection and adaptation planning for future climatic conditions in agricultural contexts.

show abstract

“…Agriculture remains the backbone of Kenya's economy, with maize being identified as the country's staple food (Kipkorir et al, 2007). Trans Nzoia county has been identified as the country's food basket, with majority of the farmers relying on rainfall as the source of water for the crops (Kirimi, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Maize crop monitoring with sentinel-1 radar satellite- case study of Endebess,Kenya

2020

JASETD

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Monitoring of crop status coupled with knowledge of growth stages of each crop is a requirement for sustainable agriculture management. Monitoring the crop condition manually in the field is labour, cost and time intensive. Remote sensing therefore provides fast, cost effective and timely tools necessary for the effective monitoring of the crops. The acquisition of cloud free optical images in tropical regions remains a big challenge since the cropping season is characterized by high cloud cover. Radar images which are independent of weather conditions were therefore preferred in this study due to their consistent acquisitions. The objective of this study was to analyse the performance of Sentinel-1 (S-1) C-band radar images in monitoring the maize growth by investigating the transferability of the maize phenological characteristics from one season to the other. This was accomplished by comparing the S-1 back scatter values for the 2015 and 2016cropping seasons. The acquired S-1 images were divided into three, according to the acquisition modes: ascending IW1; descending IW1; descending IW3. 18ADCOlngatongo Company maize fields were selected, with the principal maize growth and development stages being defined by the BBCH scale. From the results, the maize phenological development stages could be identified from the images. The backscatter values for fields having coincident planting dates for both 2015 and2016 had higher similarities compared to fields whose planting dates were far apart.The ascending IW1 had the best results. The results were however inconclusive since fewer images were available for 2015 for comparison with 2016. Thus,a comparison across the entire cropping season could not be conclusively undertaken.From the study, it was concluded that the phenological characteristics extracted for one cropping season can establish a baseline for the monitoring of the subsequent cropping seasons, which can be an indicator of expected yields.

show abstract

Evaluation of two risk assessment methods for sowing maize in Kenya

Cited by 22 publications

References 4 publications

Dry Soil Planting of Maize for Variable Onset of Rainfall in Ethiopia

Dry Soil Planting of Maize for Variable Onset of Rainfall in Ethiopia

Climate analogs for agricultural impact projection and adaptation—a reliability test

Maize crop monitoring with sentinel-1 radar satellite- case study of Endebess,Kenya

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About