Prospect of dual-purpose legumes for livestock production through dry season irrigation

United States Agency for International Developmen

Smallholder irrigation productivity for sustainable intensification: Water balances for high value crops in northern Ghana

United States Agency for International Developmen

Performance of bucket drip irrigation powered by treadle pump on tomato and maize/bean production in Malawi

The performance of a bucket drip irrigation system (BDI) powered by treadle pump was evaluated on tomato and intercropped maize/bean crops, between 2005 and 2007 in Malawi. It was a split plot experiment with three replicates. The BDI system consisted of a 1,300-l tank mounted 1.5 m above ground and connected with a 32-mm mainline and 15-mm lateral lines spaced at 1 m by 0.6 m. A treadle pump was used to uplift water to the tank. Tomato and intercropped maize/bean were irrigated every 4 days. The system reduced labour and water by >25% and it showed high uniform application depth and wetted diameter. Yields were significantly different between tomato varieties (P < 0.05). Maize/bean yields were highly significantly different between monoculture, intercropping system and bean varieties (P < 0.001). Consequently, an economic analysis shows that there is a significant difference, in terms of net income, between the various crop enterprises. Tomato was more valuable with BDI, compared to maize and beans. It can be concluded that BDI, powered by a treadle pump, saves labour and time and it provides uniform irrigation for crop production. Therefore, tomato is recommended for use with this system, compared to maize and bea

Improving Food Security and Nutrition in Malawi and Tanzania through Research on Edible Legumes

This publication contains a series of papers presented during two stakeholder workshops on groundnut production held in Lilongwe Malawi, and Mtwara Tanzania 1-2 March, and 13 April, 2007. The workshops provided opportunity v for stakeholders to identify issues related to groundnut production and inform Project activities. The meetings, thus, hoped to identify issues and strategies that could be used to improve project workplans and design and ensure more sustainable outcomes as envisaged in the proposal

Agro-climatic and hydrological characterization of selected watersheds in northern Ghana

United States Agency for International Developmen

Synergism of sulfur availability and agronomic nitrogen use efficiency

Nutrient management strategies that exploit nutrient elements’ synergistic interaction to enhance nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) are needed for economic and environmental reasons. A field study was carried out during the 2020–2022 growing seasons at six locations in three countries: two each in the United States, Ghana, and Mali using three sulfur (S) sources with different bioavailability levels (micronized elemental S, untreated elemental S, and ammonium sulfate); applied at five S application rates: site-specific recommended S rate (SR), 25%, 50%, 75%, and 125% of SR; and a single nitrogen (N) application rate (site-specific recommended N rate) to comprehensively investigate the influence of S availability on NUE. Specific objectives were to evaluate the impact of S availability on corn (Zea mays L.) yield, N uptake, and NUE. Regardless of the S source and experimental site, the aboveground S and N uptake were strongly and positively correlated (r > 0.88). Increases in apparent N recovery efficiency and agronomic NUE occurred with corresponding increases in S application rate, irrespective of the site and S source. The combined data showed that the agronomic efficiency of applied N fertilizer sources could be enhanced significantly by increasing S availability in soils. With the rising N fertilizer costs in recent times, N losses from the applied fertilizer are a drain on farmers’ income and of environmental concern. Thus, increasing NUE is a needed strategy to safeguard against excessive N application, increase farm profits, and minimize N losses to the environment that could disrupt the ecosystem function