giller - n2africa: putting nitrogen fixation to work for smallholder farmers in africa
TRANSCRIPT
Putting nitrogen fixation to work for smallholder farmers in Africa
Targeting technologies
- from fields to farms and farming systems
- from silver bullets to ‘best fits’
How do we ‘do’ local adaptation?
??
Legume technologies in Western Kenya
“But what can we use these crops for?
Cropping system
Climate
Soil fertility
The ‘niche’ for legumes
Res
ourc
e Y
Resource X
Resource Z
The niche as an ‘n’-dimensional hyperspace Hutchinson (1957)
Economic yield Labour
Substitution
Investment
The legume ‘niche’ has agroecological and socioeconomic dimensions
The socio-ecological niche
Ojiem, de Ridder, Vanlauwe & Giller (2006) Int. J. Agric. Sust. 4, 79-93.
Putting nitrogen fixation to work for smallholder farmers in Africa
Participatory evaluation of legume technologies
• First choice – grain legumes • Second choice – multi-purpose grain legumes • Third choice – fodder legumes, fodder trees • Fourth choice – woody legumes
• !very last choice – green manures, cover crops and fertilizer trees
• ‘pseudo-adoption’ due to artificial market for seed of green manures or trees
Evaluations conducted in Ghana (Adjei-Nsiah), Kenya (Ojiem), Uganda (Ebanyat), Rwanda (Bucagu), Zimbabwe (Chikowo, Malawi (Kamanga)"
Putting nitrogen fixation to work for smallholder farmers in Africa
N2Africa – target countries and legumes
West Africa • Cowpea, groundnut, soybean East & Central Africa • Common bean, groundnut, soybean Southern Africa • Common bean, groundnut, soybean Throughout all regions • Legume forages
Putting nitrogen fixation to work for smallholder farmers in Africa
Genotype ! Environment ! Management
(GL ! GR) ! E ! M
Where: GL = legume genotype GR = rhizobial strain E = environment
- climate (temperature x rainfall x daylength etc) - to encompass length of growing season etc - soils (nutrient limitations, acidity and toxicities)
M = management - agronomy – inoculation, seeding rates, plant density, weeding - (Diseases and pests are also a function of G x E x M....)
N2Africa – target countries and legumes control +Pfert +ino +Pfert+ino
Response to P and inoculation with soybean in DRC
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N2Africa demonstration trial results in Mushomo, Sud Kivu, DRC 2010 Potassium deficiency? – in plots without KCl
Soyabean response to P and inoculation in DRC
N2Africa demonstration trial results in Bugorhe, Sud Kivu, DRC 2010
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Response to P and inoculation with soybean in DRC
N2Africa demonstration trial results in Sud Kivu, DRC 2010
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Mushomo Bughore
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Drought problems ! Differential establishment
Climbing beans in Rwanda
Reckling MSc thesis 2011, Klapwijk MSc thesis 2011
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Stake density (no. ha-1)
r = 0.73
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Stake density (no. ha-1)
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Climbing bean yields depend on the length, number and quality of stakes The poorer farmers have fewer, shorter stakes of inferior quality
maize following maize maize following climbing beans
Climbing beans in DRC
No manure
With manure
Long rains season 2010 in Sud Kivu, DRC Putting nitrogen fixation to work for smallholder farmers in Africa
N2Africa is a development to research project
• Dissemination and development are the core
• M&E is provides the learning • Research analyses and
feeds back
M&E
D&D
Research
Putting nitrogen fixation to work for smallholder farmers in Africa
Conclusions 1. Good (GL ! GR) key, but E ! M overriding 2. But mineral fertilizers and organic matter are
both necessary - neither is sufficient alone 3. Need better ex ante methods for advising
policy and development agencies, and to ‘do’ local adaptation
4. Success stories all depend on good technology and market linkages
5. Legume nitrogen fixation has a great role to play in African agriculture
Putting nitrogen fixation to work for smallholder farmers in Africa
For updates see
www.N2Africa.org Lots of video resource materials
N2Africa Podcaster - Monthly Newsletter
Giller et al. (2011) Communicating complexity: Integrated assessment of trade-offs concerning soil fertility management within African farming systems to support
innovation and development. Agricultural Systems, 104, 191-203.
Putting nitrogen fixation to work for smallholder farmers in Africa
Problems encountered/ being addressed
1. Accessing high quality inoculants in Africa 2. Lack of useful quality control regulations in Africa
a) Problems of cross-border trade in inoculants
3. Dearth of trained staff at all technical and academic levels 4. Non-responsive soils (unknown and/or multiple constraints) 5. The market paradox (an institutional problem)
a) National deficit for legumes such as soybean in all countries b) But farmers lack of markets for legume grain at local level c) And they lack input suppliers for P fertilizer, inoculant etc