Crop Yields
Cultivation in Luangwa Valley is done almost entirely by hand plow and manpower is an obvious constraint to total area cultivated. Based on the 603 plots mapped by plotting corner points for each farmed area sampled, mean plot size was 2734 m2 or approximately 1.1 limas . Table below shows mean plot size for farms in relation to the three farming practices surveyed in this study.
Diagram below shows mean and standard deviations of maize produced per lima. Area-specific rainfall was not collected but wide variation in timing was noted with a more delayed beginning in the northern areas, which likely contributed to the large standard deviations. Based on these mean values, increase in maize yields attributed to CF with and without composting in comparison to traditional farming practices was 151.5 kg and 103.2 kg, respectively.
The chart below provides a comparison of maize yield by farming practice with different histories of crops grown the previous year, including either maize, cotton or a legume (groundnuts). The survey did not attempt to describe a longer time frame of crop histories on selected crops. By separating the possible effects of farming selected crops on the following year?s maize yield, results suggest the actual maize yield increased if the previous year?s crop was not cotton. The potential benefit of a legume crop on soil nutrients was not evident from these data. The relative increase in yield attributed to the possible effects of CF with compost showed a 19.3% increase in yields relative to non-CF for field previously grown with maize.
Another contribution to maize yield is seed variety. The survey examined this effect by comparing yields for local maize variety and hybrid maize seeds. The source of the former was either local maize seed stock or seed obtained from WFP maize. Hybrid maize was either a commercial grade or an improved variety purchased from another farmer. Results in the table below suggest that improved seed varieties in contrast to local varieties can contribute improved yields, ranging from 4.0% for fields farmed by CF to 6.1% for fields farmed by traditional farming practices.
A lima is the standard unit farmers use for measuring their fields and equals 50 meters by 50 meters. BACK TO TOP?
