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Integration of Forage and Food Crops Grown Sequentially on Vertisols under Rainfed Conditions in the Mid-Altitude Ethiopian Highlands

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 October 2008

Abate Tedla ,
J. Sherington  and
M. A. Mohamed-Saleem
Abate Tedla
Affiliation:
International Livestock Centre for Africa (ILCA), PO Box 5689, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
J. Sherington
Affiliation:
International Livestock Centre for Africa (ILCA), PO Box 5689, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
M. A. Mohamed-Saleem
Affiliation:
International Livestock Centre for Africa (ILCA), PO Box 5689, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
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Summary

Poor drainage of Vertisols in the Ethiopian mid-altitude highlands limits farming operations and cropping in the early rainy season (July–August). Traditional crops are grown on residual moisture late in the season (September–January) when waterlogging is less of a problem. Productivity is therefore below its potential. The recent introduction of a broadbed and furrow system for improved drainage on Vertisols allows full use of the growing period and provides scope for a wider variety of cropping systems and increased productivity. Trials using a sequential cropping system demonstrated that two crops a year can be grown when Vertisols are drained. The crops used in the trial were oats or an oat/vetch mixture forage in the early season followed by grasspea or chickpea food crops in the late season as the second crop. Further on-farm research on sequential cropping of forages and food crops in the mid-altitude highlands of Ethiopia is now needed.

Type
Research Article
Information
Experimental Agriculture , Volume 30 , Issue 3 , July 1994 , pp. 291 - 298
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

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References

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