A survey study was conducted to assess the level of awareness and application of existing agro-ecological practices by small holder farmers in Mvomero and Masasi districts in Tanzania. The selection of farmers to interview and the villages in the respective districts was based on their long history of producing cassava and maize. A structured questionnaire was used to identify the type of agro-ecological practices, agricultural information sources accessed by farmers, training on agro-ecological practices, type of crops grown in the study areas and kind of livestock kept. Results indicated that the most applied agro-ecological practices were diversification (80.5%), the use of farmer saved seeds (78.2%) followed by intercropping (72.9%) and lastly, agro-forestry (3.2%). The highest percentage of farmers (30.4%) reported to receive information on ecological organic agriculture from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) (SAT, SWISS AID), 27.5% were using own farming experience, 21% reported to receive the information from government extension officers, 13% from friends or neighbours, 4.3% from government institutions (SUA, Agricultural Training Institutes) and 3.6% received information from agricultural input suppliers. Generally, 50% of farmers had received training on agroecological practices indicating the level of awareness. Lack of knowledge among farmers was one of the key factors that hamper the wide application of agroecological practices. There was a need for farmer’s capacity building through training to enhance wider application of agroecological practices hence progressive agricultural production increase.

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Bat guano from Kisarawe cave A (BGK-A), Kisarawe cave B (BGK -B) and Sukumawera cave (BGS) in Tanzania were studied in a laboratory incubation experiment for 112 days to assess the phosphorus release patterns and establish the pick periods of

A study was conducted to evaluate maize response to leguminous biomass composted with phosphate rocks (PRs) in a split plot design. Field experiments were conducted at Wang’waray Farmers Training Center (F.T.C) located in Babati District of Manyara region in the Northern zone of Tanzania between December 2013 and June 2015. Three leguminous (Crotalaria juncea, Lablab purpureus and Mucuna pruriens) strips were cultivated in 2013/14 to produce a biomass which was harvested at flowering to early podding stage and air dried.  Air-dry biomass was composted with PRs from Minjingu (medium reactive PR) and Panda Hill (low reactive PR). Maize response to different treatments was evaluated across the field strips in 2014/15 season. The strips previously used to produce leguminous biomass were used as main plots and each strip was divided into seven subplots receiving different treatments at random. A medium term maize variety SC. 627 was used as a test crop. Average maize grain yields obtained from Crotalaria, Lablab and Mucuna strips reached 5.3, 4.5 and 4.0 t ha-1, respectively and were statistically different (P=.05). Application of Minjingu or Panda Hill PR alone didn’t increase maize grain yield above the control while Minjingu PR applied with urea or composted with biomass increased maize grain yield by 2.40 and 1.58 t ha-1, respectively above the control. Application of Panda Hill PR with urea or composted with biomass increased grain yield by 1.20 and 1.06 t ha-1, respectively above the control. The observed differences (0.82 and 0.14 t ha-1) were not statistically significant indicating that biomass composted with PR was as effective as the PR applied with urea.