Improving and Sustaining Productivity in Dryland Regions of Developing Countries

Steiner, Jean L.; Day, John C.; Papendick, R. I.; Meyer, Rolf; Bertrand, A. R.

doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-8771-8_2

Cited by 32 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…A first choice was that soil fertility management was to be the focus, rather than rural credit, which had initially been proposed by the international institute. The international literature (Steiner et al, 1988;Pieri, 1989 1992; Swift, 1996;Mazzucato and Niemeijer, 2000;Stroosnijder and Van Rheenen, 2001) suggests that soil fertility management is indeed a major issue in this region. A second decision, based on the ideas of specialized scientists within the international institute, was that agriculture needed to be intensified in order to improve production; it was assumed that an increase in production would benefit farmers and reduce poverty.…”

Section: Pre-analytical Choicesmentioning

confidence: 97%

Lessons for farmer-oriented research: Experiences from a West African soil fertility management project

Nederlof

Dangbegnon²

2007

Agric Hum Values

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Donors, scientists and farmers all benefit when research and development projects have high impact. However, potential benefits are sometimes not realized. Our objective in this study is to determine why resource-poor farmers in Togo (declined to) adopt recommended practices that were promoted through a multi-organizational project on soil fertility management. We examine the processes and outcomes related to the adoption process. The project was undertaken in three villages in the Central Region of Togo in West Africa. The development and research processes that took place during the implementation of the project were critically analyzed using a conceptual framework that may be useful for improving the impact of future participatory projects. At the macro level, opportunities for innovation were not deliberately explored with participating farmers and other village members; consequently ''pre-analytical choices'' made during the planning phase resulted in practices that resource-poor farmers were, for a variety of reasons, unable or unwilling to adopt. From the outset, donors and scientists focused on soil fertility management, but failed to take into account the wider economic context within which soil fertility management took place. This was a major obstacle to the subsequent adoption of recommended management strategies. Scientists and donor partners measured the success of the Project in terms of crop productivity, but farmers' choices were influenced by a complex mix of socio-economic, political and technical factors. We also illustrate the importance of selecting appropriate categories of farmers for a particular experiment. We conclude that for participatory research and development projects to be successful, it is not enough to develop technologies that ''work'' in a technical sense. In order to be scaled up and widely implemented, such technologies must also meet a variety of needs of resource-poor farmers and be acceptable from a socio-cultural point of view.

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Section: Pre-analytical Choicesmentioning

confidence: 97%

Lessons for farmer-oriented research: Experiences from a West African soil fertility management project

Nederlof

Dangbegnon²

2007

Agric Hum Values

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“…Mostly rain-fed cropping is practiced within the prevailing climatic constraints (Steiner et al, 1988). Much of the world's drylands are in developing countries and charecterized by low crop productivity, limited irrigation potential, weak administrative and agricultural research infrastructures, and unrelenting pressure on natural resources due to escalating growth in human and animal populations (Ryan, 2002a and b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Different Tillage Systems and Soil Residual Nitrogen on Chickpea Yield and Yield Components in Rotation with Wheat under Dry Farming Areas

Kayan¹,

Kutlu²,

Ayter³

et al. 2017

IJAB

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To cite this paper: Kayan, N., İ. Kutlu, N.G. Ayter and M.S. Adak, 2017. Effects of different tillage systems and soil residual nitrogen on chickpea yield and yield components in rotation with wheat under dry farming areas. AbstractThe aims of this study were to determine how the tillage system and residual N of soil affected chickpea yield and its trait in rotation with wheat under Central Anatolia Region. In this study, two tillage methods viz. conventional and reduced tillage, three crop rotations; wheat-wheat; wheat-fallow; wheat-chickpea and four N levels of 0, 50, 100, 150 kg ha -1 were evaluated for four years duration (2012)(2013)(2014)(2015). Tillage methods were maintained into main plots, crop rotation into subplots and N levels into sub-sub plots. Only chickpea in continuous rotation with wheat was examined in this study. The results were evaluated according to split plot design with three replicates. Grain yield was higher under conventional tillage (CT) than reduced tillage (RT) in both of the growing seasons. Some important yield components were higher under RT than CT especially in the second growing season. These differences of tillage methods may also be due to climatic conditions. Residual fertilizer N significantly affected chickpea grain yield which increased with 100 and 150 kg N ha -1 levels. Results also indicated that; conventional tillage may be more appropriate for chickpea in rotation with wheat. Chickpea grain yield was also affected when N fertilizer applied to wheat.

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“…In high rainfall areas, mulching is widely practiced as biomass is produced all year round and harvest residues abound. In low rainfall areas, mulching is less frequently practiced as fanners prefer to use crop residues as animal feed or as fuel (1,2).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mulching in potato systems in the tropics

Manrique¹

1995

Journal of Plant Nutrition

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Mulching plays an important role in ameliorating soil and environmental stresses of most tropical crops. But for non-tropical crops such as potato, the beneficial effects are somewhat obscured by the incompatibility of mulching with existing soil and crop management practices. This paper reviews the main features of mulching. It basically describes the performance of selected mulch materials in potato systems, assesses their beneficial and/or adverse effects, and outlines potential avenues for developing efficient mulching techniques for potato.

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Improving and Sustaining Productivity in Dryland Regions of Developing Countries

Cited by 32 publications

References 15 publications

Lessons for farmer-oriented research: Experiences from a West African soil fertility management project

Lessons for farmer-oriented research: Experiences from a West African soil fertility management project

Effects of Different Tillage Systems and Soil Residual Nitrogen on Chickpea Yield and Yield Components in Rotation with Wheat under Dry Farming Areas

Mulching in potato systems in the tropics

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