Efforts by Small-Scale Farmers to Maintain Soil Fertility and Their Impacts on Soil Properties, Luwero District, Uganda

Nyombi, Kenneth; Esser, Kjell B.; Zake, J. Y. K.

doi:10.1300/j064v27n04_03

Cited by 11 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 2 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Farmers ranked provision of shade and soil fertility improvement as the most important functions accruing from trees. This corroborates with other findings [10,12,24]. A. coriaria, F. natalensis and M. indica were cited by farmers as the best for provision of shade, which agrees with other findings [25].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

“…A. coriaria, F. natalensis and M. indica were cited by farmers as the best for provision of shade, which agrees with other findings [25]. Farmers cited A. coriaria, S. sesban, F. natalensis, C. calothyrus and F. sycomorus as the most important trees for improving soil fertility, agreeing with Nyombi et al [10].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…Instead, they rely on organic supplements [4], including integration of banana and trees [9,10]. However, poor tree choice and canopy management practices may promote competition for light, nutrients, space and moisture, among others [11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Farmers’ knowledge of the banana (Musa sp.) agro-forestry systems in Kiboga district, central Uganda

Kagezi¹,

Ssebulime²,

Nyombi³

et al. 2017

AJFAND

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Banana is a major food and cash crop in Uganda, particularly in the central and southwestern regions. However, production is still below attainable yields and at the same time declining due to a number of reasons, with low soil fertility being paramount. Few farmers use inorganic fertilizers, with majority of them relying mainly on organic supplements including integration of trees/shrubs. However, trees and shrubs exist on banana farms in undefined numbers and composition, with no spacing and canopy management recommendations. Also, there is limited information on farmers' knowledge on these systems. A survey was, therefore, conducted on 70 randomly selected farms in Kiboga district, central Uganda to assess farmers' knowledge of, as well as identify trees and shrubs species and banana cultivars in their agro-ecologies. A total of 1,558 trees and shrubs belonging to 40 species and 21 families were recorded in the study area (52 trees/shrubs per banana plantation). These were dominated by Jackfruit, Artocarpus heterophyllus (15%), Natal fig, Ficus natalensis (10%), Albizia, Albizia coriaria (10%) and mango, Mangifera indica (9%). Further, 1,779 banana mats belonging to nine (9) cultivars and three (3) genome groups were observed growing underneath these four commonest tree species (2.6 banana mats per tree). The highest number of banana mats was observed growing underneath F. natalensis (54%) and A. coriaria (42%). Most (87%) observed banana cultivars belonged to the cooking East African Highland Banana (Musa AAA-EAHB) and dominated by Ndibwabalangira (21%). Farmers reported 25 benefits they derive from banana-trees/shrubs integration; with shade and firewood (38%), as well as income and timber (35%) being the main benefits reported. They also reported that the highest percentage of benefits was derived from F. natalensis (44%) and A. coriaria (32%). Of the four (4) most prevalent tree species, A. coriaria (100%) and F. natalensis (96%) were reported as good companion plant to bananas, whereas, A. heterophyllus (99%) and M. indica (97%) were regarded as bad companion plants. Farmers preferred a tree that allows light penetration (96%), is compatible with bananas and other crops (87%) and has easily decomposable leaves (83%). Therefore, F. natalensis and A. coriaria should be integrated in banana agrosystems for soil fertility improvement whereas; A. heterophyllus and M. indica be planted on farm boundaries. However, the best-bet spacing and pruning regimes for these trees should be determined to minimize the negative attributes as much as possible.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Farmers’ knowledge of the banana (Musa sp.) agro-forestry systems in Kiboga district, central Uganda

Kagezi¹,

Ssebulime²,

Nyombi³

et al. 2017

AJFAND

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Analysis of socio-economic characteristics of the farmers showed no clear-cut influence on the likelihood of applying different practices. Similar observations are reported in Hella (2004) for the districts in Dodoma region of Tanzania and Nyombi et al (2006) in parts of Uganda: most household characteristics and household resources are not significant in predicting the likelihood of investing in soil and water conservation practices.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Traditional Tillage Systems as Drought Adaptation Strategies of Smallholder Farmers: The Case of Semi-Arid Central Tanzania

Shemdoe¹,

Kikula²,

Damme³

2009

Nature and Culture

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article presents local knowledge on ecosystem management by analyzing and discussing traditional tillage practices applied by smallholder farmers as a response to drought risks in dryland areas of Mpwapwa District, central Tanzania. Farming activities in the area wholly depend on rain-fed systems. Information from key informants and in-depth household interviews indicate that farmers in this area use three different traditional tillage practices-no-till (sesa), shallow tillage (kutifua), and ridges (matuta). Available information suggests that selection of a particular practice depends on affordability (in terms of costs and labor requirements), perceived ability to retain nutrient and soil-water, and improvement of control of erosion and crop yield. In this area, smallholder farmers perceive no-till practice to contribute to more weed species, hence more weeding time and labor are needed than in the other two practices. The no-till practice also contributes to low soil fertility, low soil moisture retention, and poor crop yield. No plans have been made to introduce irrigation farming in these marginal areas of central Tanzania. Thus, improving the ability of the tillage practices to conserve soil moisture and maintain soil fertility nutrients using locally available materials are important tasks to be carried out. This will ensure the selection of practices that will have positive influence on improved crop yields in the area.

show abstract

“…Many studies have compared local farmers' perceptions of soil fertility and/or perception of soil classification with scientifically determined soil parameters [7][8][9][10][11][12][13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Farmers’ assessment of soil quality in rice production systems

Lima

Hoogmoed

Brussaard

et al. 2011

NJAS: Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

a b s t r a c tIn the recent past there has been increasing recognition that local knowledge of farmers can yield insight into soil quality. With regard to constraints and possibilities for the production of irrigated rice in the south of Brazil there is no documentation on local soil knowledge. The goals of this study were to answer the following questions: (1) Which soil quality perceptions do rice farmers have? (2) Which soil quality indicators are most important to them? (3) Do rice farmers use their knowledge about soil quality indicators when making soil management decisions and developing sustainable management? The study was carried out in the municipality of Camaquã-Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The research methods used included semi-structured interviews alternated with group discussions. Farmers named eleven characteristics as good indicators for soil quality: earthworms, soil colour, yield, spontaneous vegetation, soil organic matter, root development, soil friability, rice plant development, colour of the rice plant, number of rice tillers and cattle health. Out of these, three indicators were found to be useful in farmers' decision-making: spontaneous vegetation, rice plant development and soil colour. The potential use of local knowledge for maintaining soil quality and developing sustainable land management is discussed.

show abstract

Efforts by Small-Scale Farmers to Maintain Soil Fertility and Their Impacts on Soil Properties, Luwero District, Uganda

Cited by 11 publications

References 2 publications

Farmers’ knowledge of the banana (Musa sp.) agro-forestry systems in Kiboga district, central Uganda

Farmers’ knowledge of the banana (Musa sp.) agro-forestry systems in Kiboga district, central Uganda

Traditional Tillage Systems as Drought Adaptation Strategies of Smallholder Farmers: The Case of Semi-Arid Central Tanzania

Farmers’ assessment of soil quality in rice production systems

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About