Effects of conventional and conservation tillage on soil compaction in Omuntele and Ogongo constituencies of Namibia

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Effects of conventional and Namibia specific conservation tillage on soil moisture content in Ogongo, Namibia

Farmers in Northern Communal Areas (NCA) of Namibia practise conventional tillage using mouldboard or disc implements that pulverise fragile soil structures thereby destroying vital organic matter. This subsequently creates hard pans and plough lines that lead to soil degradation and consequently reduced moisture content and low yields leading to food insecurity. Studies were conducted at the Ogongo Campus of the University of Namibia between 2011 and 2013 to compare the differences between two conventional tillage (CV) treatments (i.e. tractor - drawn disc harrow (TDH) and animal - drawn mouldboard plough (AMP) and two Namibia Specific Conservation tillage (NSCT) treatments (tractor - drawn ripper furrower (TRF) and animal - drawn ripper furrowers (ARF) used by farmers in Namibia. A Fallow treatment of No tillage No crop (NTNC) was used as a control. The experimental research design used was a „split plot randomized complete block design‟ with tillage method as the main plot factor, and two mulch rates (0 and 3 t ha-1) as the subplot factor in 4 blocks, totalling 40 plots. This study showed significant (p<0.003) differences in moisture among tillage methods and interaction between time and tillage (p<0.001), with soil moisture peaks in February for both years. TRF resulted in the highest percentage increase in moisture content with 8.1%, whilst TDH increased by 3.9%, ARF increased by 3.1%, AMP actually decreased by 3.1% over the two year period. There was however no mulch effect on the moisture levels over the two years. Overall, the moisture contents under the NSCT treatments were higher than the corresponding moisture contents under the CV technologies and fallow treatments, Farmers in the NCA of Namibia are therefore advised to adopt the NSCT methods

A comparison of conventional and conservation tillage implements used for crop production in Omusati region of Northern Namibia

Experiments were conducted to test and compare the performance of four tillage implements (two for Conventional Tillage (CV) and two for Conservation tillage (CT) used by farmers in Omusati conditions of Namibia. The two CV implements are the animal drawn plough and the tractor drawn disc harrow whilst the two CT implements are the animal drawn and the tractor drawn ripper furrowers. The parameters evaluated were draught force, draught power, effective field capacity, field efficiency, average depth and width of cut during the various operations. The research design was a randomised complete block design. Results showed that there are significant differences (p = <0.001) in mean depth, draught and effective field capacity among the tillage methods. They show that draught requirements vary with implement type, speed of operation and depth of operation

Animal draft power training in Zimbabwe: experiences and future challenges Animal draft power training in Zimbabwe: experiences and future challenges

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