Climate Change Effect on Water Use Efficiency under Selected Soil and Water Conservation Practices in the Ruzizi Catchment, Eastern D.R. Congo

peer reviewedConcerns have been raised on the effectiveness and sustainability of Soil and Water Conservation (SWC) practices as adaptation options to climate change and high intra– and inter–annual rainfall variabilities in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This study was conducted in the Ruzizi Plain, a dryland area, to assess the performance of maize (Zea mays L.) under two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP 4.5 and 8.5) and two SWC practices (tied ridges and conventional tillage). The AgMIP’s Regional Integrated Assessment (RIA) approach was used to simulate Water Use Efficiency (WUE) under the Cropping System Model–Crop Environment Resource Synthesis (CSM–CERES–Maize) of the Decision Support System for Agro–technology Transfer (DSSAT). The model was calibrated using experimental data from nine cropping seasons (2011–2018) and 100 farms. The model sensitivity was assessed as a function of temperature, water, and SWC practices for the same environments. Initial conditions of crop management practices were used as input data for CSM–CERES–Maize. Current climate data were extracted from AgMERRA datasets corrected with local data for the period of 1980 to 2021. Future climate projections (2022–2099) were obtained after down−scaling the data from the 29 General Circulation Models (GCMS) of Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 5 (CMIP5) and subsetted to five GCMs based on climate regimes. GCMS results were a strong indicator that climate change in this DRC dryland will result in an increase in average annual temperatures for both RCP 4.5 and 8.5, with the highest increase (3.05 ◦C) under hot/dry conditions for RCP8.5 and the lowest (1.04 ◦C) under cool/dry conditions for RCP 4.5. All the models selected for five climate regimes for 2022–2099 showed no change in the rainfall trends for RCP 4.5 (p > 0.05). The models projected yield declines of 5–25%, with less yield losses under tied ridges as an adaptation practice. The use of efficient SWC practices could therefore be a promising strategy in reducing potential losses from climate change in drylands of eastern DRC

Current Practices and Prospects of Climate-Smart Agriculture in Democratic Republic of Congo: A Review

peer reviewedClimate-smart agriculture (CSA) is one of the innovative approaches for sustainably increasing the agricultural productivity, improving livelihoods and incomes of farmers, while at the same time improving resilience and contributing to climate change mitigation. In spite of the fact that there is neither explicit policy nor practices branded as CSA in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), farmers are utilizing an array of farming practices whose attributes meet the CSA criteria. However, the intensity, distribution, efficiency, and dynamics of use as well as the sources of these technologies are not sufficiently documented. Therefore, this review paper provides a comprehensive evidence of CSA-associated farming practices in DRC, public and private efforts to promote CSA practices, and the associated benefits accruing from the practices as deployed by farmers in the DRC. We find evidence of progress among farming communities in the use of practices that can be classified as CSA. Communities using these practices are building on the traditional knowledge systems and adaptation of introduced technologies to suit the local conditions. Reported returns on use of these practices are promising, pointing to their potential continued use into the future. While progressive returns on investment are reported, they are relatively lower than those reported from other areas in sub-Saharan Africa deploying similar approaches. We recommend for strategic support for capacity building at various levels, including public institutions for policy development and guidance, extension and community level to support uptake of technologies and higher education institutions for mainstreaming CSA into curricula and training a generation of CSA sensitive human resources

Kajian potensi ekstrak bilberi sebagai penunjuk pH untuk memantau kesegaran makanan secara kromametri

Penunjuk pH sebagai suatu pendekatan untuk memantau kualiti atau kesegaran makanan semasa telah mendapat perhatian industri pembungkusan makanan. Penggunaan sumber semula jadi pigmen tumbuhan terutamanya daripada buah-buahan dan sayur-sayuran menjadi pilihan para pengguna untuk menggantikan pewarna sintetik dalam memastikan keselamatan makanan yang diambil setiap hari. Dalam kajian ini, ekstrak daripada bilberi telah digunakan sebagai pewarna sensitif pH. Perubahan warna sampel dikaji secara terperinci melalui kaedah kromametri dan juga kaedah spektrofotometri ultra-lembayung nampak. Warna merah terang terhasil dalam pH berasid, merah pudar pada neutral dan magenta ke kuning dalam pH beralkali. Keputusan kajian kromametri menunjukkan bahawa ekstrak bilberi berupaya mempamerkan perubahan warna yang jelas terhadap perubahan pH, iaitu terdapat perubahan nilai warna a* yang menyumbang kepada perubahan yang bererti dalam perbezaan warna keseluruhan (ΔE*). Nilai ΔE* juga ditentukan wujud hubungan linear dan kuantitatif terhadap julat pH tertentu. Oleh yang demikian, ekstrak bilberi didapati berpotensi sebagai bahan sensor untuk pH dalam membangunkan satu sensor pH bagi memantau kesegaran makanan terutamanya hasilan laut berbungkus memandangkan tahap kerosakan produk tersebut berkait rapat dengan perubahan pH ke arah alkali

Assessment of the nitrogen fertilizer split-application on maize grain yield and profitability on Nitisols of South-Kivu, Eastern D.R. Congo

Abstract Soil depletion constitutes a major challenge for agriculture and food security in highlands of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of the split-application of nitrogen fertilizer on grain yield and profitability of maize on Nitisols in eastern DRC. The urea fertilizer (100 kg ha−1) was applied in single, two, and three split-applications on three maize varieties for two cropping seasons. Results showed that maize growth and yield parameters varied significantly with N splitting strategy, varieties, and cropping season (p < 0.01). The single N application at the 45th day after sowing presented the highest grain yield (5.5 t ha−1) compared to split-applications for both cropping seasons. The variety 'ZM 627' had the highest grain yield in both seasons (5.4 and 5.8 t ha−1 for 2017 and 2018 cropping seasons, respectively). The benefit–cost ratio analysis showed that single application was more profitable, i.e. 1.63 USD kg−1 of fertilizer compared to two (0.6 USD kg−1) and three splits (0.22 USD kg−1 of fertilizer), though dependent on used varieties. The trend was the same for agronomic efficiency (AE); the single application yielded 11 kg kg−1 of maize grains. In addition, the split applications resulted in additional labor costs. Results from this study do not, therefore, recommend the N splitting strategy for maize on South-Kivu Nitisols

Optimization of plant density and fertilizer application to improve biofortified common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) yield on Nitisols of South-Kivu, Eastern D.R. Congo

Soil nutrient depletion and poor farming practices are serious challenges limiting crop productivity in soils of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (D.R. Congo). An experiment was conducted in two cropping seasons to assess the effect of plant density (25 plants m2 and 33 plants m2) and fertilizer application (with and without NPK) on the yield and yield components of three biofortified common bean varieties (HM21-7, RWR2245 and RWR2154). The experiment involved two plant densities, two fertilizer rates and three varieties arranged in a split-split plot design with three replications. Results showed that yield significantly varied with plant density, variety and fertilizer rate (p < 0.05). The best performing variety in terms of grain yield was HM21-7 (1.5 t ha−1) as compared to RWR2154 (1.09 t ha−1) and RWR2245 (1.14 t ha−1). The NPK fertilizer increased the grain yield by 38.2%. Grain yield increased also with the plant density, highest grain yield being recorded on higher plant density (1.37 t ha−1) as compared to low lower plant density (1.25 t ha−1). Agronomic efficiency (AE) was influenced by the variety, with the highest AE obtained on RWR2245 (23.27 kg kg−1) and on high plant density (20.34 kg kg−1). Therefore, we concluded that increasing the plant density by reducing the plant spacing, using NPK fertilizer and high yielding varieties provide with an opportunity to improving common bean yields on Nitisols dominating the highlands of eastern D.R. Congo

Current Practices and Prospects of Climate-Smart Agriculture in Democratic Republic of Congo: A Review

peer reviewedClimate-smart agriculture (CSA) is one of the innovative approaches for sustainablyincreasing the agricultural productivity, improving livelihoods and incomes of farmers, while at thesame time improving resilience and contributing to climate change mitigation. In spite of the factthat there is neither explicit policy nor practices branded as CSA in Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC), farmers are utilizing an array of farming practices whose attributes meet the CSA criteria.However, the intensity, distribution, efficiency, and dynamics of use as well as the sources of thesetechnologies are not sufficiently documented. Therefore, this review paper provides a comprehensiveevidence of CSA-associated farming practices in DRC, public and private efforts to promote CSApractices, and the associated benefits accruing from the practices as deployed by farmers in theDRC. We find evidence of progress among farming communities in the use of practices that canbe classified as CSA. Communities using these practices are building on the traditional knowledgesystems and adaptation of introduced technologies to suit the local conditions. Reported returns onuse of these practices are promising, pointing to their potential continued use into the future. Whileprogressive returns on investment are reported, they are relatively lower than those reported fromother areas in sub-Saharan Africa deploying similar approaches. We recommend for strategic supportfor capacity building at various levels, including public institutions for policy development andguidance, extension and community level to support uptake of technologies and higher educationinstitutions for mainstreaming CSA into curricula and training a generation of CSA sensitive humanresources