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RESTORING CROPLAND PRODUCTIVITY AND PROFITABILITY IN NORTHERN ETHIOPIAN DRYLANDS AFTER NINE YEARS OF RESOURCE-CONSERVING AGRICULTURE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2015

TESFAY ARAYA ,
JAN NYSSEN ,
BRAM GOVAERTS ,
FRÉDÉRIC BAUDRON ,
LOUISE CARPENTIER ,
HANS BAUER ,
SIL LANCKRIET ,
JOZEF DECKERS  and
WIM M. CORNELIS
TESFAY ARAYA*
Affiliation:
Department of Agronomy, University of Fort Hare, PBX1314, Alice 5700, South Africa Department of Crop and Horticultural Science, Mekelle University, P.O. Box 231, Mekelle, Ethiopia
JAN NYSSEN
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281 (S8), B-9000 Gent, Belgium
BRAM GOVAERTS
Affiliation:
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), A.P. 6-641, Mexico D.F. 06600, México
FRÉDÉRIC BAUDRON
Affiliation:
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), P.O. Box 5689 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
LOUISE CARPENTIER
Affiliation:
Department of Soil Management, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, B-9000 Gent, Belgium
HANS BAUER
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, K.U.Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200E, B-3001 Heverlee, Belgium
SIL LANCKRIET
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281 (S8), B-9000 Gent, Belgium
JOZEF DECKERS
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, K.U.Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200E, B-3001 Heverlee, Belgium
WIM M. CORNELIS
Affiliation:
Department of Soil Management, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, B-9000 Gent, Belgium
*
§Corresponding author. Email: [email protected], [email protected]
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Summary

Long-term in situ soil and water conservation experiments are rare in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in Eastern Africa. A long-term experiment was conducted (2005–2013) on a Vertisol to quantify the impacts of resource-conserving agriculture (RCA) on runoff, soil loss, soil fertility and crop productivity and economic profitability in northern Ethiopia. Two RCA practices were developed from traditional furrow tillage practices: (i) derdero+ (DER+) and terwah+ (TER+). DER+ is a furrow and permanent raised bed planting system, tilled once at planting time by refreshing the furrow and 30% of crop residue is retained. TER+ is ploughed once at planting, furrows are made at 1.5 m intervals and 30% crop residue is retained. The third treatment was a conventional tillage (CT) with a minimum of three tillage operations and complete removal of crop residues. Wheat, teff, barley and grass pea crops were grown in rotation. Runoff, and soil and nutrient loss were measured in plastic sheet-lined collector trenches. Significantly different (P < 0.05) runoff coefficients (%) and soil losses (t ha−1) averaged over 9 yrs were 14 and 3, 22 and 11 and 30 and 17 for DER+, TER+ and CT, respectively. Significant improvements in crop yield and gross margin were observed after a period of three years of cropping This study demonstrated that RCA systems in semi-arid agro-ecosystems constitute a field rainwater conservation and soil fertility improvement strategy that enhances crop productivity and economic profitability. Adoption of RCA systems (DER+ and TER+) in the study area requires further work to improve smallholder farmers’ awareness on benefits, to guarantee high standards during implementation and to design appropriate weed management strategies.

Type
Research Article
Information
Experimental Agriculture , Volume 52 , Issue 2 , April 2016 , pp. 165 - 187
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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