Technical and Economic Performance of Animal-Drawn Implements for Minimum Tillage: Experience on Vertisols in Ethiopia

Astatke, A.; Jabbar, Mohammad A.; Saleem, M. A. Mohamed; Erkossa, Teklu

doi:10.1017/s0014479702000248

Cited by 23 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Mineral fertilising should not be the overall option, given scarce capital resources. Due to decreased landholdings, a shift in the soil tillage system to gardening and minimum tillage (on self-mulching Vertisols) may be suggested (Astatke et al 2002;Araya et al 2012), as well as an extension of the cropping period on Vertisols (Tedla et al 1999). Asnakew et al (1994) obtained good maize yields with rock fragment mulching and no-tillage.…”

Section: Agricultural Intensification and Land Rehabilitationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Land Degradation in the Ethiopian Highlands

Nyssen

Poesen

Lanckriet

et al. 2015

World Geomorphological Landscapes

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Landforms and landscapes vary enormously across the Earth, from high mountains to endless plains. At a smaller scale, nature often surprises us by creating shapes which look improbable. Many physical landscapes are so immensely beautiful that they received the highest possible recognition-they hold the status of World Heritage Sites. Apart from often being immensely scenic, landscapes tell stories which not uncommonly can be traced back in time for tens of millions of years and include unique geological events such as meteorite impacts. In addition, many landscapes owe their appearance and harmony not solely to the natural forces. For centuries, and even millennia, they have been shaped by humans who have modified hillslopes, river courses and coastlines, and erected structures which often blend with the natural landforms to form inseparable entities.These landscapes are studied by geomorphology-'the science of scenery'-a part of Earth Sciences that focuses on landforms, their assemblages, surface and subsurface processes that moulded them in the past and that change them today. To show the importance of geomorphology in understanding the landscape, and to present the beauty and diversity of the geomorphological sceneries across the world, we have launched a book series World Geomorphological Landscapes. It aims to be a scientific library of monographs that present and explain physical landscapes, focusing on both representative and uniquely spectacular examples. Each book will contain details on geomorphology of a particular country or a geographically coherent region. This volume presents the impressive geomorphic legacy of Ethiopia which hosts many landscapes and landforms of global significance. Examples include the otherworldly Afar Depression with its sun-baked volcanoes, high-elevation basalt plateaus, the East African Rift valley with its splendid lakes, to name just a few. Ethiopia is also a country where geomorphology and people have remained in particularly close association since time immemorial. These relationships can be examined by referring to the past-as demonstrated by the chapter on geoarcheology of Aksum, but perhaps more importantly, with the reference to the present-day environmental problems arising from land use, soil erosion, water resources depletion and settlement growth.

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Section: Agricultural Intensification and Land Rehabilitationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Land Degradation in the Ethiopian Highlands

Nyssen

Poesen

Lanckriet

et al. 2015

World Geomorphological Landscapes

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“…Eventually nine farmers participated in the on-farm trial during the 1999 cropping season, six of them from the original 12 and an additional three who did not participate in the earlier on-station demonstrations. The on-farm procedures following the 1999 cropping season have been reported by Astatke et al (2002a).…”

Section: Selection Of Farmersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Broadbed and furrow (BBF) technology, as it is known, was tested on-farm and later disseminated to farmers by the Ministry of Agriculture and several NGOs (Astatke et al, 2002a). At present, if farmers apply the BBF system on the same plot of land during consecutive seasons, the beds are destroyed by conventional tillage and reconstructed on an annual basis.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Participatory on-Farm Conservation Tillage Trial in the Ethiopian Highland Vertisols: The Impact of Potassium Application on Crop Yields

Astatke¹,

Mamo

Peden³

et al. 2004

Ex. Agric.

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The two years on-farm tillage research during the 1999 and 2000 cropping seasons in an Ethiopian highland Vertisol area demonstrated the importance of adapting cultural practices into participatory trials. The minimum tillage package could be an effective intervention for soil conservation due to the early-vegetative cover of the soil. Based on farmers' application of ash on Vertisols at Chefe Donsa, the incorporation of 50 kg ha −1 of potassium sulphate (K 2 SO 4 ) in the on-farm trial significantly increased grain and straw yields of wheat. The nitrogen levels in the grain and straw of wheat on plots given K 2 SO 4 were higher than those without. The nitrogen level for both wheat grain and straw was even higher when grown on plots previously growing legumes that received K 2 SO 4 . This showed that the availability of extra potassium in these soils improved the extraction of nitrogen by the wheat crop, thus improving the grain yield. The findings indicate the need to reassess the traditionally-practised system of not applying potassium fertilizer to Ethiopian soils. I N T RO D U C T I O NVertisols cover 10.3 % of the total landmass of Ethiopia, two-thirds of which are in the highlands at altitudes higher than 1500 m asl (Wakeel and Astatke, 1996). Despite the fact that they have high agricultural potential, these soils are generally regarded as marginal due to their hydro-physical properties leading to waterlogging in the main rainy season ( June to September) and cracking during the dry months. On Vertisols, crops are planted at the tail end of the rainy season, exposing the tilled soil to the heavy rains during most of the rainy period; this often results in high soil erosion.In order to solve the waterlogging problem on Vertisols, a research consortium has developed an animal-drawn cultivator called a broadbed maker (BBM) by modifying the local implement known as 'maresha'. The BBM creates 0.8 m wide beds separated by 0.4 m wide furrows that allow excess water during heavy rains to be discharged to a main drain or other outlet at the bottom end of a plot. This technology allows early planting to take advantage of a longer growing period, resulting in higher yields and less erosion as there is adequate vegetative cover during the rainy season (Astatke and Mohamed Saleem, 1998;Mohamed Saleem, 1995). † Corresponding author: a.astatke@cgiar.org

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“…In Pakistan, Akbar et al (2007) reported about 36% water saving for broad-beds and about 10% for narrow-beds compared to flat sowing, and 6% increased grain yield of wheat and 33% of maize. In both cases, the furrows act as pathways for drainage during excessive rains and conserve rainwater in dry spells (Astatke et al, 2002). However, the use of direct dry seeding on flat and raised beds while resulting in considerable water savings generally had negative impacts on rice yield (Choudhury et al, 2007;Humphreys et al, 2010).…”

Section: In-situ Water Harvestingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resource Conservation Technologies (RCTs)-Needs and future prospects: A review

Ramesh

Negi

Rana

2016

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Continuous use of conventional farming practices with conventional tillage and burning crop residues has degraded the soil resource base and intensified soil degradation with concomitant decrease in crop production capacity. Further, escalating fuel, fertilizers and other input costs; necessitates the effective use of resources in agriculture. Conservation agriculture (CA) consists of four principles: (i) minimizing mechanical soil disturbance and seeding directly into untilled soil, (ii) using cover crops and/or crop residues (mainly residue retention), (iii) diversification of crops in associations, sequences and rotations and (iv) controlled traffic that lessen soil compaction. The CA technologies involving no-or minimum-tillage with direct seeding and bed planting, residue management and crop diversification have potential for improving productivity and soil quality, mainly by soil organic matter build-up. Conservation agriculture systems appear to be appealing options to achieve sustainable and intensive crop production under different agroecological environments because they use available resources efficiently and maintain soil fertility. However, there is a need for wider scale testing of these new technologies under diverse production systems, as the CA technologies are site specific and therefore appraisal of CA is important to have significant adoption.

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Technical and Economic Performance of Animal-Drawn Implements for Minimum Tillage: Experience on Vertisols in Ethiopia

Cited by 23 publications

References 5 publications

Land Degradation in the Ethiopian Highlands

Land Degradation in the Ethiopian Highlands

Participatory on-Farm Conservation Tillage Trial in the Ethiopian Highland Vertisols: The Impact of Potassium Application on Crop Yields

Resource Conservation Technologies (RCTs)-Needs and future prospects: A review

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