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Use of Tine-tillage, with Atrazine Weed Control, to Permit Earlier Planting of Maize by Smallholder Farmers in Zimbabwe

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 October 2008

E. M. Shumba ,
S. R. Waddington  and
M Rukuni
E. M. Shumba
Affiliation:
Department of Research and Specialist Services, Ministry of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement, PO Box 8000, Causeway Mount Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe
S. R. Waddington
Affiliation:
CIMMYT, PO Box MP 154, Mount Pleasant Mount Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe
M Rukuni
Affiliation:
Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zimbabwe, PO Box MP 167, Mount Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe
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Summary

Because of shortages of oxen for mouldboard ploughing, delayed planting of maize is common in Mangwende, Zimbabwe and reduces grain yield by 32%. On-farm experiments over four years tested the possibility of using a ripper tine, with atrazine herbicide, to allow smallholders to plant maize earlier. Compared to mouldboard ploughing, tine cultivation increased grain yield at 13 out of 18 sites. All these sites had less than 240 mm of rainfall in January (which coincided with crop anthesis) and long term rainfall records suggest tine cultivation should raise yields in two out of three years. Handweeding and atrazine treatments gave similar grain yields when used with tine cultivation, provided weeds were controlled within 14 days of crop emergence. Tine cultivation was economic at sites where the yield was greater than that with the mouldboard plough. The farmers could manage the combination of tine and atrazine use on a field scale.

Type
Research Article
Information
Experimental Agriculture , Volume 28 , Issue 4 , October 1992 , pp. 443 - 452
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

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References

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