Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development in the Tropics and Subtropics (JARTS)
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Determinants of crop diversity and composition in Enset-coffee agroforestry homegardens of Southern Ethiopia
Get PDFHouseholds in much of the tropics depend for their livelihoods on the variety and continued production of food and other products that are provided by their own farms. In such systems, maintenance of agrobiodiversity and ensuring food security are important for the well being of the population. The enset-coffee agroforestry homegardens of Southern Ethiopia that are dominated by two native perennial crops, Coffee (Coffea arabica L.) and Enset (Enset ventricosum Welw. Cheesman), are examples of such agricultural systems. This study was conducted in Sidama administrative zone of Southern Ethiopia to determine the factors that influence the diversity and composition of crops in the systems. Data were collected from 144 sample homegardens selected from four districts. Stepwise multiple regression analysis was used to relate indices of crop diversity and area share of major crops with the physical and socioeconomic factors. The study revealed that socioeconomic factors, mainly proximity to markets, affected negatively crop species richness. The production area of the main crops enset and coffee decreased with increasing proximity to market and road while that of maize and khat increased. At household level, farm size had a significant effect on area share of enset and coffee. As farm size increased the share of the cash crop, coffee increased but that of the staple, enset declined. Enset, which is the backbone of the system in terms of food security, is declining on small farms and the share of monoculture maize system is increasing. The trend towards declining agrobiodiversity, and reduction in the production area of the main perennial crops and their gradual replacement with monoculture fields could make the systems liable to instability and collapse. As these sites are high potential agricultural areas, intensification can be achieved by integrating high-value and more productive crops, such as fruits, spices and vegetables, while maintaining the integrated and complex nature of the systems
Strategies for coping with feed scarcity among urban and peri-urban livestock farmers in Kampala, Uganda
Get PDFLivestock keeping is increasingly becoming more popular in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda. However, lack of feed is a real challenge. Inadequate feed supply in urban areas is due to many interacting factors, which include among others land shortage, high cost of feeds, climate risks and poor quality of feeds. The objective of this study was to identify and examine the effectiveness of the strategies adopted by livestock farmers in urban and peri-urban areas of Kampala, Uganda to cope with feed scarcity. A total of 120 livestock farmers from Kampala were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Dairy cattle (48.3%) and chickens (37.5%) were the most common species, followed by pigs (34.2%), goats (26.7%) and sheep (3.3%). Farm size was generally small both in terms of herd size and total landholding. Cattle and pig farmers in urban and peri-urban areas of Kampala ranked feed scarcity as their first major constraint, while chicken farmers had high cost of feeds. These farmers have adopted several strategies for coping with feed scarcity. Among the major coping strategies adopted were: changing of feed resources based on availability and cost (37.5%), purchasing of feed ingredients in bulk (29.7%), using crop/food wastes (26.6%), harvesting of forages growing naturally in open access lands (23.4%) and reducing herd size (17.2%). However, most of the coping strategies adopted were largely aimed at dealing with the perennial challenge of feed scarcity on a day-by-day basis rather than dealing with it using sustainable and long-term strategies
Farmers’ desired traits and selection criteria for maize varieties and their implications for maize breeding: A case study from KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa
Get PDFAdoption of hybrids and improved varieties has remained low in the smallholder farming sector of South Africa, despite maize being the staple food crop for the majority of households. The objective of this study was to establish preferred maize characteristics by farmers which can be used as selection criteria by maize breeders in crop improvement. Data were collected from three villages of a selected smallholder farming area in South Africa using a survey covering 300 households and participatory rural appraisal methodology. Results indicated a limited selection of maize varieties grown by farmers in the area compared to other communities in Africa. More than 97% of the farmers grew a local landrace called Natal-8-row or IsiZulu. Hybrids and improved open pollinated varieties were planted by less than 40% of the farmers. The Natal-8-row landrace had characteristics similar to landraces from eastern and southern Africa and closely resembled Hickory King, a landrace still popular in Southern Africa. The local landrace was preferred for its taste, recycled seed, tolerance to abiotic stresses and yield stability. Preferred characteristics of maize varieties were high yield and prolificacy, disease resistance, early maturity, white grain colour, and drying and shelling qualities. Farmers were willing to grow hybrids if the cost of seed and other inputs were affordable and their preferences were considered. Our results show that breeding opportunities exist for improving the farmers’ local varieties and maize breeders can take advantage of these preferred traits and incorporate them into existing high yielding varieties
Nitrogen requirements of cassava in selected soils of Thailand
Get PDFCassava (Manihot esculenta) is one of the most important export crops in Thailand, yet the nitrogen requirement is unknown and not considered by growers and producers. Cassava requirements for N were determined in field experiments during a period of four years and four sites on the Satuk (Suk), Don Chedi (Dc), Pak Chong (Pc),and Ban Beung (BBg) soil series in Lopburi, Supanburi, Nakhon Ratchasima, and Chonburi sites, respectively. The fertilizer treatment structure comprised 0, 62.5, 125, 187.5, 250 and 312.5 kg N ha^(-1) as urea. At each site cassava was harvested at nine months and yield parameters and the minimum datasets were taken. The fertilizer rate which resulted in maximum yield ranged from 187.5 kg N ha^(-1) in Supanburi and Chonburi (fresh weight yield of 47,500 and 30,000 kg ha^(-1) respectively) to 250 kg N ha^(-1) in Lopburi and Nakhon Ratchasima (fresh weight yield of 64,100 and 46,700 kg ha^(-1) respectively). Yield appeared to decrease at the higher, 312 kg ha^(-1), at Supanburi and Lopburi, and 250 kg ha^(-1) (Chonburi) fertilizer N rates. Net revenue was 70.4 and 72.9 % higher than where no N was appliedLopburi and Nakhon Ratchasima sites. Net revenue at the Supanburi and Chonburi sites were 53.8 and 211.0 % higher than that where no N was applied. This study suggests that at all sites improved cassava production and net revenue could be obtained with the judicious application of higher quantities of N. The results provide needed guidance to nitrogen fertilization of the important industrial crop cassava in Thailand
Characteristics, socioeconomic benefits and household livelihoods of beef buffalo and beef cattle farming in Northeast Thailand
Get PDFSince the Thai economy experiences rapid growth, agricultural systems, i.e. crop-livestock systems, are changing rapidly. On account of these changes, buffalo and cattle production has to be re-examined in terms of performance characteristics and roles of livestock for farm households in order to initiate suitable development programmes. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the present characteristics of beef buffalo and beef cattle farms in Northeast Thailand. Using a semi-structured questionnaire, 121 randomly selected beef buffalo and beef cattle farms were interviewed in Nakhon Ratchasima province between October 2007 and May 2008. Both buffaloes and cattle were mostly integrated in mixed crop-livestock systems with medium to large farm sizes (7.9 ha), whereof less than half of the area was used for livestock. Family members were mainly responsible for the different activities of livestock farming and salaried labourers were only found on large-scale farms. The dominant roles of livestock were income generation to build up wealth or savings, the coverage of expected and unexpected expenses and earning of regular and additional income. Another important issue was the improvement of the social status, which increased with herd size. In order to improve farmers’ livelihoods and develop sustainable farming systems in Northeast Thailand the changing economic circumstances of cattle and especially buffalo production should receive more attention of researchers, governmental institutions and stakeholders
Book review: Roger Leakey. Living with the trees of life: Towards the transformation of tropical agriculture
No full textRoger Leakey. Living with the trees of life: Towards the transformation of tropical agriculture. July 2012. CABI, 224 pp. ISBN: 978 1 78064 098 3Agroforestry as a modern science is barely fifty years old. Nevertheless, it has become an integral part of concepts, reports and assessments on the state-of-the-art of rural development.Against this background, the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) plays a remarkable role. But when precise concepts, practices and technologies are tracked, one ends up recognizing specific research groups and even individuals as founders and promoters of most of them. This is the case, for instance, in alley cropping or push-pull technologies, developed ad hoc to satisfy specific demands and which have been strongly promoted by identifiable institutions and individuals. In his book ‘Living with trees: towards the transformation of the tropical agriculture’, Roger Leakey renders his personal testimony of agroforestry. He does this from the viewpoint of a student, scientist, scientific leader, and lately as an advocate of agroforestry as a land-use management alternative.In a narrative style, Leakey interlaces cornerstones of his scientific queries with his contributions on agroforestry as a driver and path for rural development. He describes, for instance, how a high diversity of tree seeds in a Cameroonian market indicates the potential of native trees to provide diverse benefits to small households. Later, as the director general of ICRAF, he introduced the idea of the ‘Cinderella’ tree, which led to a worldwide program on participative identification and domestication of indigenous tree species.Through anecdotal causalities, Leakey reveals the manifold character of agroforestry: “(…) is more than just an agronomic practice that restores soil fertility and produces tree products in farmers’ fields. It is also applied ecology or, more accurately, applied agroecology – the ecology of farming systems.” (Leakey 2012: 51). In the context of the current global challenges, he further develops this premise to the concept of multifunctionality, which he understands as the simultaneous provision of diverse goods, services and functions to strengthen the ecological and social sustainability of livelihoods. Furthermore, for the operationalization of farming multifunctionality Leakey proposes the use of systemic insights by acknowledging that the “(…) interconnectedness of agriculture’s different roles and functions in rural development, is a sine qua non” condition to generate and promote sustainable scientific and technological alternatives. This is possible since multifunctionality, by its intrinsic logic, avoids the hampering factors inherent to other approaches by being affordable, socially accepted, environmentally harmless and naturally capable of supporting rehabilitation of water and soils.Leakey supports his thesis with several case studies: Participatory domestication of the galip nut in the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, re-introduction of overexploited wild sandalwood species in the Vanuatu archipelago in the South Pacific, and in Australia exploration of bush tucker species together with the aboriginal communities. His flagship experience is the Food for Progress project in Cameroon, which by 2009 included almost 500 villages in active production, use and commercialization of tree local species.However, as is the case with similar technological/paradigmatic proposals, this approach faces inherent constraints. One is the unpredictability resulting from dealing with social-ecological systems and diverse interests that may or may not match the interests and foreseen goals of the stakeholders. This generates diverging and unexpected outcomes. Associated herewith is the tradeoff through optimization of the components’ performance, i.e., which outcome should be privileged and which the guiding criteria? Again, the dilemma between producing more with less against more with more becomes apparent.Strictly speaking, Leakey’s book is not a scientific book. As a prolific scientific author with an extensive bibliography, Leakey does not need to provide methodological and technical arguments to make a point. His style, this time, is rather discursive. He says that scientific research can benefit from participation, scientific findings can achieve developmental goals, and multifunctionality as a production paradigm can facilitate this. But besides scientific training, a sensitive mindset is a fundamental condition to realize these aspects and put them into practice.In short, Leakey’s work is a book that a committed (young) scientist interested in development, but with both feet on the ground, could significantly benefit from
Can commercialization of NTFPs alleviate poverty? A case study of Ricinodendron heudelotii (Baill.) Pierre ex Pax. kernel marketing in Cameroon
Get PDFRicinodendron heudelotii (Baill.) Pierre ex Pax. kernel (njansang) commercialization has been promoted by the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) in project villages in Cameroon with the aim to alleviate poverty for small-scale farmers. We evaluated to what extent development interventions improved the financial situation of households by comparing project and control households. The financial importance of njansang to household livelihoods between 2005 and 2010 was investigated through semi-structured questionnaires with retrospective questions, focus group discussions, interviews and wealth-ranking exercises. The importance of njansang increased strongly in the entire study region and the increase was significantly larger in project households. Moreover, absolute numbers of income from njansang commercialization as well as relative importance of njansang in total cash income, increased significantly more in project households (p 0.05). Although the lower wealth class households could increase their income through njansang trade, the upper wealth class households benefited more from the projects' interventions. Group sales as conducted in project villages did not lead to significantly higher prices and should be reconsidered. Hence, promotion of njansang had a positive effect on total cash income and can still be improved. The corporative actors for njansang commercialization are encouraged to adapt their strategies to ensure that also the lower wealth class households benefit from the conducted project interventions. In this respect, frequent project monitoring and impact analysis are important tools to accomplish this adaptation
Effects of dietary lipid source on growth, digestibility and tissue fatty acid composition of Heterobranchus longifilis fingerlings
Get PDFOne of the major problems facing aquaculture is the inadequate supply of fish oil mostly used for fish feed manufacturing. The continued growth in aquaculture production cannot depend on this finite feed resources, therefore, it is imperative that cheap and readily available substitutes that do not compromise fish growth and fillet quality be found. To achieve this, a 12-week feeding trial with Heterobranchus longifilis fed diets differing in lipid source was conducted. Diets were supplemented with 6% lipid as fish oil, soybean oil, palm oil, coconut oil, groundnut oil and melon seed oil. Triplicate groups of 20 H. longifilis were fed the experimental diets two times a day to apparent satiation, over 84 days. Growth, digestibility, and muscle fatty acid profile were measured to assess diet effects. At the end of the study, survival, feed intake and hepatosomatic index were similar for fish fed experimental diets. However, weight gain, SGR and FCR of fish fed soybean oil-based diet was significantly reduced. Apparent nutrient digestibility coefficients were significantly lower in fish fed soybean, coconut and groundnut oil-based diets. Fillet and hepatic fatty acid compositions differed and reflected the fatty acid compositions of the diets. Docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n-3), 20:5n-3 and 20:4n-6 were conserved in vegetable oils-based diets fed fish possibly due to synthesis of HUFA from 18:3n-3 and 18:4n-6. Palm oil diet was the least expensive, and had the best economic conversion ratio. The use of vegetable oils in the diets had positive effect on growth and fillet composition of H. longifilis
Leguminous cover crops differentially affect maize yields in three contrasting soil types of Kakamega, Western Kenya
Get PDFMaize production in smallholder farming systems in Kenya is largely limited by low soil fertility. As mineral fertilizer is expensive, green manuring using leguminous cover crops could be an alternative strategy for farmers to enhance farm productivity. However due to variability in soil type and crop management, the effects of green manure are likely to differ with farms. The objectives of this study were to evaluate Mucuna pruriens and Arachis pintoi on (i) biomass and nitrogen fixation (15N natural abundance), (ii) soil carbon and nitrogen stocks and (iii) their effects on maize yields over two cropping seasons in Kakamega, Western Kenya. Mucuna at 6 weeks accumulated 1–1.3 Mg ha^{-1} of dry matter and 33–56 kg ha^{-1} nitrogen of which 70% was nitrogen derived from the atmosphere (Ndfa). Arachis after 12 months accumulated 2–2.7 Mg ha^{-1} of dry matter and 51–74 kg N ha^{-1} of which 52-63 % was from Ndfa. Soil carbon and nitrogen stocks at 0–15 cm depth were enhanced by 2-4 Mg C ha^{-1} and 0.3–1.0 Mg N ha^{-1} under Mucuna and Arachis fallow, irrespective of soil type. Maize yield increased by 0.5-2 Mg ha^{-1} in Mucuna and 0.5–3 Mg ha^{-1} in Arachis and the response was stronger on Nitisol than on Acrisol or Ferralsol. We concluded that leguminous cover crops seem promising in enhancing soil fertility and maize yields in Kenya, provided soil conditions and rainfall are suitable
Impact of floriculture development enhances livelihood of India’s rural women
Get PDFIndia’s rural women are involved in various types of work and contribute considerably to the economy. However much of their work is not systematically accounted in the official statistics. India’s governmental and non-governmental data collection agencies admit that there is an under-estimation of tribal women’s contribution as rural workers. This study describes in detail a research project that focuses on the indicators for socioeconomic development in the least developed rural villages by examining the impact of floriculture on the lives of impoverished tribal women who inhabit the harsh drylands of western India