Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
plow pans are a widespread problem in farms of smallholder farmers in Zambia
(Umar et al. 2011). The type of CA practiced in Zambia has only focused on the
principle of reduced tillage. The principle of mulching is not practiced in Zambia as
livestock grazes freely in the dry season, removing all the residues that are left on
the soil surface after harvesting. The dominance of maize in the farming system in
Zambia makes it difficult to practice crop rotation. About 60% of the agricultural
area is under maize monocropping (Aune et al. 2012). The government of Zambia
has been promoting maize production through government subsidies on fertilizer
and maize hybrid seeds. For that reason, it has become less appealing for farmers to
practice rotation involving grain legumes. There are also other elements added to CA
in Zambia such as planting of the tree
Faidherbia albida
.
Traditional tillage in Malawi can be considered as ridge splitting, as new ridges
are made by hoe every year by moving the soil from the previous ridge to a new
ridge that is created between the previous ridges (Ngwira et al. 2012). This was a
tillage system that was introduced during the British colonial time and has since
remained the dominant tillage system in Malawi (Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation
and Water 2012). CA is promoted in Malawi by the Ministry of Agriculture, Total
Land Care, Sakakawa Global 2000, and the CIMMYT (International Maize and
Wheat Improvement Center). Both planting basins and direct sowing have been
introduced in Malawi. The planting basins promoted in Malawi have generally been
bigger than the planting basins used in Zambia (Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation
and Water 2012). Basins with dimensions of 30 × 30 × 20 cm have frequently been
used. Total Land Care has introduced a system of direct sowing. In this new system,
a small hole in the soil is opened with a wooden stick and the seeds are thereafter
placed in this hole. The crop residues from the previous season are retained as a
mulch and there is no movement of soil in this CA system in Malawi. Mulching is
feasible in Malawi because the grazing pressure from the animals is low (Ngwira
et al. 2012).
Ethiopia has an ancient tradition of tilling the land by using a pair of oxen pulling
an ard (the maresha) (McCann 1995) (Figure 10.1). Ethiopians are called “the people
FIGURE 10.1
Oxen tillage in Ethiopia.
