The northern zone of Tanzania is one of the major maize producing areas of the country. Population increase is pushing maize production into marginal areas with little and unreliable rainfall. Irrigation, which could support maize production under these conditions, is underdeveloped and expensive to operate by the poor communities. Options available to improve maize production to feed the rising population include the use of in-situ holding of rainwater using landforms like ridges, tied ridges and planting pits. Three moisture conservation methods were evaluated in on-farm and on-station verification trials and demonstrations in northern Tanzania from 1998 to 2001. Medium- and short-term maize varieties were used in the trials in a split plot and split-split plot designs for the on-farm and on-station trials, respectively. Seed placement on the ridges was also evaluated in the on-station trial for verification purposes. Both on-station and on-farm trials proved that tied ridges were good and economical means of soil and water conservation. Yield increase for Kito (short maturing variety) was from 0.8 t/ha on flat planting to 2.3 t/ha under tied ridges and for medium maturing variety Tuxpeno 0.3t/ha to 0.7t/ha respectively in a season with less than 500 mm rainfall. Under normal rainfall conditions of about 800 mm rainfall no added advantage was realized with tied ridges, ridges and pit planting when compared to flat planting. Crest and side seed placements in the ridge system did not differ significantly (p ~ .05). The adoption process of this technology is insignificant compared to the benefits and enthusiasm among the community members. Some technology transfer pathways had to be formulated for adoption purposes and these are still underway.

English

0410|AGRIS 0401|AL-Maize Program

Juan Carlos Mendieta

CIMMYT Publications Collection