Yield and soil system changes from conservation tillage in dryland farming: A case study from North Eastern Tanzania

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dc.contributor.authorEnfors, E.en
dc.contributor.authorBarron, J.en
dc.contributor.authorMakurira, H.en
dc.contributor.authorRockström, J.en
dc.contributor.authorTumbo, Siza D.en
dc.contributor.departmentSustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management (SANREM) Knowledgebaseen
dc.coverage.spatialTanzaniaen
dc.coverage.temporal2005 - 2008en
dc.date.accessioned2016-04-19T20:29:25Zen
dc.date.available2016-04-19T20:29:25Zen
dc.date.issued2011en
dc.descriptionMetadata only recorden
dc.description.abstractConservation agriculture (CA) and its related practices of soil cover, cover crops, and reduced-tillage have often been touted as an effective means of in situ water harvesting, which provides stable yields in times of low rainfall. Applications have been especially relevant to semi-arid sub-Saharan Africa, where yields are characteristically low due to decreased water availability during critical crop development periods. In this study, the impact of adopting CA on the soil's capacity for moisture retention (as indicated by productivity) was assessed over six seasons between 2005 and 2008 in Northern Tanzania. Treatments included conventional tillage, conventional tillage with mulch and manure, tillage via ripper, and tillage via ripper with mulch and manure. No changes in physiological properties of the the soil were observed after treatment, but changes in chemical and microbiological components were measured. Additionally, yield increases were seen for ripper plus manure and mulch treatments but not ripper alone compared to control (conventional). However, results question the ability of conservation agriculture practices to stabilize yields in times of abnormally low rainfall, considering yield increases relative to control were primarily observed after times of elevated rainfall. Thus, short-term benefits to farmers would be increased yields during seasons of high rainfall rather than yield stabilization during low rainfall.en
dc.format.mimetypetext/plainen
dc.identifier5430en
dc.identifier.citationAgricultural Water Management 98(11): 1687 – 1695en
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2010.02.013en
dc.identifier.issn0378-3774en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/69935en
dc.language.isoen_USen
dc.publisherElsevieren
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.holderCopyright 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.en
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjectWateren
dc.subjectDroughten
dc.subjectSemiarid zonesen
dc.subjectConservation tillageen
dc.subjectRippingen
dc.subjectIn situ water harvestingen
dc.subjectMaizeen
dc.subjectTanzaniaen
dc.subjectField Scaleen
dc.titleYield and soil system changes from conservation tillage in dryland farming: A case study from North Eastern Tanzaniaen
dc.typeAbstracten
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten

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