Zimbabwe's maize-based Green Revolution: Preconditions for replication

Eicher, Carl K.

doi:10.1016/0305-750x(95)93983-r

Cited by 103 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Rainfed maize production has the highest potential in Regions IIa and IIb ( Fig. 1) (Eicher, 1995;Burt et al, 2001;Philips et al, 2002) because rainfall in Regions III to V is too low and erratic for the reliable production of rainfed maize. Natural Region II is traditionally referred to as the maize belt of Zimbabwe.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of the FAO AquaCrop model in developing sowing guidelines for rainfed maize in Zimbabwe

Mhizha

Geerts²,

Vanuytrecht³

et al. 2014

WSA

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This paper presents a procedure in which the water-driven water productivity model AquaCrop was fine-tuned and validated for maize for the local conditions in Zimbabwe and then applied to develop sowing management options for decision support. Data from experiments of 2 seasons in Harare and from 5 other sites around Zimbabwe were used for the local calibration and validation of AquaCrop. Model parameters such as the reference harvest index (HI o ); the canopy growth coefficient (CGC); early canopy decline and normalised biomass water productivity (WP b * ) were adjusted during model calibration. Model performance was satisfactory after calibration with a Nash-Sutcliffe model efficiency parameter (EF = 0.81), RMSE = 15% and R 2 = 0.86 upon validation. To develop sowing guidelines, historical climate series from 13 meteorological stations around Zimbabwe were used to simulate maize yield for 6 consecutive sowing dates determined according to criteria applicable in Zimbabwe. Three varieties and typical shallow and deep soil types were considered in the simulation scenarios. The simulated yield was analysed by an optimisation procedure to select the optimum sowing time that maximised long-term mean yield. Results showed that highest yields depended on the climate of the site (rainfall availability), variety (length of growing cycle) and soil depth (soil water storage capacity). The late variety gave higher mean yields for all sowing dates in the maize belt. Staggered sowing is recommended as a way of combating the effects of rainfall variability and as an answer to labour constraints.

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Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of the FAO AquaCrop model in developing sowing guidelines for rainfed maize in Zimbabwe

Mhizha

Geerts²,

Vanuytrecht³

et al. 2014

WSA

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“…We analysed maize grain yield data from rain-fed long-term studies on tillage and residue management from semi-arid to sub-humid environments. Maize grain yield is important because it is the staple food crop for most of Southern Africa where it constitutes more than 50% of the diet for most people and can be grown under widely varying rainfall and edaphic conditions (Eicher 1995;Smale 1995;Sileshi et al 2008). We mainly focused on one of the pillars of sustainable land management, which is to maintain or enhance productivity (Dumanski and Smyth 1994).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A meta-analysis of long-term effects of conservation agriculture on maize grain yield under rain-fed conditions

Rusinamhodzi

Corbeels²,

Wijk

et al. 2011

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

367

260

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Conservation agriculture involves reduced tillage, permanent soil cover and crop rotations to enhance soil fertility and to supply food from a dwindling land resource. Recently, conservation agriculture has been promoted in Southern Africa, mainly for maize-based farming systems. However, maize yields under rain-fed conditions are often variable. There is therefore a need to identify factors that influence crop yield under conservation agriculture and rain-fed conditions. Here, we studied maize grain yield data from experiments lasting 5 years and more under rain-fed conditions. We assessed the effect of long-term tillage and residue retention on maize grain yield under contrasting soil textures, nitrogen input and climate. Yield variability was measured by stability analysis. Our results show an increase in maize yield over time with conservation agriculture practices that include rotation and high input use in low rainfall areas. But we observed no difference in system stability under those conditions. We observed a strong relationship between maize grain yield and annual rainfall. Our meta-analysis gave the following findings: (1) 92% of the data show that mulch cover in high rainfall areas leads to lower yields due to waterlogging; (2) 85% of data show that soil texture is important in the temporal development of conservation agriculture effects, improved yields are likely on well-drained soils; (3) 73% of the data show that conservation agriculture practices require high inputs especially N for improved yield; (4) 63% of data show that increased yields are obtained with rotation but calculations often do not include the variations in rainfall within and between seasons; (5) 56% of the data show that reduced tillage with no mulch cover leads to lower yields in semi-arid areas; and (6) when adequate fertiliser is available, rainfall is the most important determinant of yield in southern Africa. It is clear from our results that conservation agriculture needs to be targeted and adapted to specific biophysical conditions for improved impact.

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“…Despite this, the experience of Asia points to a clear consensus on the role of strong public policies and investment in creating a pro-poor Green Revolution (Eicher 1995;Smale 1995;Hazell 2009). These policies include agricultural research and development, irrigation, rural roads, access to credit, and price support policies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Agricultural Modernization, Structural Change and Pro-poor Growth: Policy Options for the Democratic Republic of Congo

Otchia

2014

Economic Structures

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This paper applies the framework for pro-poor analysis to welfare changes from a CGE-microsimulation model to analyze what are the better or worse models for agriculture modernization, and to estimate the contribution of growth and redistribution to changes in poverty in DRC. The findings indicate that labor-using technological change generates absolute and relative pro-poor effects whereas capital-using technological change leads to immiserizing growth. More importantly, the results suggest that labor-using technological change can be independently sufficient for reducing poverty via the income growth effects. This study also highlights how developing input supply networks, securing tenure among smallholders, and improving access to land for women are important for pro-poor agricultural modernization.

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Zimbabwe's maize-based Green Revolution: Preconditions for replication

Cited by 103 publications

References 12 publications

Use of the FAO AquaCrop model in developing sowing guidelines for rainfed maize in Zimbabwe

Use of the FAO AquaCrop model in developing sowing guidelines for rainfed maize in Zimbabwe

A meta-analysis of long-term effects of conservation agriculture on maize grain yield under rain-fed conditions

Agricultural Modernization, Structural Change and Pro-poor Growth: Policy Options for the Democratic Republic of Congo

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