Experiences with legumes in D R Congo

Prof. WALANGULULU MASAMBADean of the faculty of agricultureUniversité Catholique de Bukavu

Content

• Main legume crops• Secondary legume crops• Constraints• Past initiatives to promote legumes• On going initiatives to promote legumes

Main Cropping zones of groundnutFarming system: pure stand, associated with maize and cassavaUse: dry grainYield: 1500 to 2000 kg of dry pods in pure stand, 600 to 900 kg in associationUse: consumption, industry

Growth habit :bunchy and erected types

Main cropping zones of beans and cowpea

Cowpea: mainly in KasaiBeans: along the easter border (mid and high altitude)

Growth habit: bush and climbing beansFarming system: pure stand and association for both, rainfed, also in marshland in the dry seasonUse: dry gain, young leaves as vegetables

Main cropping zones of soybean

Use: consumptium and industryFarming system: pure stand and associationYield: 700-800 kg/ha in smallscale farms

Secondary legumes

Bambara groundnut: cropped where pigeon pea and groundnut are cropped (savannah); yield: 300-800 kg/ha in traditional farming; use:dry grain

Pigeon pea:cropped as backyard; use: dry grain, green grains, dry stems as firewood

Peas: cropped in high altitude; use: dry and green grains

Constraints in legume production

Beans and cowpea: pests, conservation of production, stakes for climbing beans, mixture of genotypes for beans in traditional farming, marketSoya: rapid deterioration of seed germination viability, nematodsGroundnut: pests and diseases, market

Constraints in legume production (cont’d)Seed productionFertilizer use in legume based system constrained by high costs, high soil variability

Past initiatives to promote legumes

Germoplasm evaluation:15 soybean (5 best), 10 beans (5 best) in Sud Kivu, 31 cowpea (11 best) and 1 soybean in Bas-CongoSpatial arrangement to increase number of legume season cropping under intercopping with cassava, banana, maize and coffeeISFM in legume based systemProcessing legume products by training womenMaize as stake for climbing beans

Past initiatives (cont’d)

Past initiatives (cont’d)

Baseline of the current status of N2-fixation; identify niches for targeting N2-fixing legumes in the impact zones, M&E and impact assessmentSelect multi-purpose legumes (food, fodder, stakes, and soil fertility management) for enhanced BNF and integrate these into farming systemsSelect superior rhizobia strains for enhanced BNF and develop inoculum production capacityDeliver legume and inoculant technologies to farmers throughout mid and high altitudesDevelop and strengthen capacity for BNF research, technology development, and application

On going initiatives to promote legumes

Select superior rhizobia strains for enhanced BNF and develop inoculum production capacityDeliver legume and inoculant technologies to farmers throughout mid and high altitudesDevelop and strengthen capacity for BNF research, technology development, and applicationUnderstand soil unresponsiveness under legume cultivationImprove farming system of legume based by integrating livestock

On going initiatives (cont’d)

Farm level diagnosis of current functions and constraints A suite of proven, farmer- and system-specific legume-based options for system intensificationA decision support framework for enhancing the contributions of legumes to farmer livelihoods

Thank You

Merci beaucoup

Aksanti sana