POTENTIAL OF BIOMASS TRANSFER TECHNOLOGIES IN SUSTAINING VEGETABLE PRODUCTION IN THE WETLANDS (DAMBOS) OF EASTERN ZAMBIA

Abstract

Farmers grow vegetables widely during the dry season in wetlands known locally as dambos in southern Africa. Declining soil fertility is one of the major factors limiting smallholder vegetable production in the dambos of eastern Zambia. An experiment was initiated with 43 farmers with the objective of assessing the agronomic and economic feasibility of foliar biomass of gliricidia (Gliricidia sepium) and leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala) for production of cabbage, onion and a subsequent maize crop during the dry season. The treatments were, on a dry-matter basis, 8 and 12 t ha −1 gliricidia, 12 t ha −1 leucaena and 10 t ha −1 manure + half the recommended fertilizer rate, inorganic fertilizer at recommended rate, and a control without any inputs. Direct field measurements and informal enquiries were used for evaluating the effects of different treatments. The highest cabbage and onion yields were obtained from manure + halfrate fertilizer application. The gliricidia biomass transfer technology produced cabbage, onion and maize yields comparable with the full fertilizer application. In both cabbage and onion, manure + fertilizer gave generally higher net incomes. Biomass transfer also recorded higher net incomes than the control, and required lower cash inputs than the fully fertilized crop. Net incomes of the biomass treatments were substantially reduced by the labour costs for pruning and incorporation of the biomass. The results indicate that the gliricidia biomass transfer technology could be used as an alternative to inorganic fertilizers for vegetable production in dambos.

Fertiliser trees for sustainable food security in the maize-based production systems of East and Southern Africa. A review

“…In addition to increasing yields of vegetables such as cabbage, rape, onion and tomato, and maize grown after vegetable harvests, biomass transfer has shown potential to increase yields of other high-value crops such as garlic (Kuntashula et al, 2004.…”

Efficacy of lantana (Lantana camara) extract application against aphids (Brevicoryne brassicae) in rape (Brassica napus) over varied periods of time

“…Author(s) agree that this article remains permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License increasing populations (Kuntashula et al, 2004).…”

Impact of Soil Fertility Replenishment Agroforestry Technology Adoption on the Livelihoods and Food Security of Smallholder Farmers in Central and Southern Malawi

“…The technology is www.intechopen.com labor intensive as the mulch must be collected, transported to the agricultural field, and then incorporated into the soils. The amount and cost of labor associated with biomass transfer is the major limiting factor to the technology (Kuntashula et al, 2004). The advantage of this technology is that it allows for continuous cultivation as the incorporated green manure provides sustained soil nutrient replenishment (Place et al, 2003).…”