Improving maize (Zea Mays L.) performance in semi-arid zimbabwe through micro-dosing with ammonium nitrate tablets

Experimental Agriculture

Volumn 49, Issue 2, 2013, Pages 179-196

  Mashingaidze, N ^a,b   Belder, P ^a   Twomlow, S ^a   Hove, L ^a   Moyo, M ^a  

^a ICRISAT Bulawayo   (Zimbabwe)

^b UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA   (South Africa)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 84874375010     PISSN: 00144797     EISSN: 14694441     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0014479712001020     Document Type: Article

References (36)

1. Anderson, J. M. and Ingram, J. S. I. (1993). Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility: A Handbook of Methods, 2nd edn. Wallingford, UK: CAB International, 221 pp.
2. Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) (1990). Official Methods of Analysis, 15th edn. Washington, DC: AOAC.
3. Balarin, J. J. (1982). National Reviews for Aquaculture Development in Africa: Zimbabwe. FAO Fisheries Circular No. 770.1. Rome, Italy: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
4. Carberry, P., Gladwin, C. and Twomlow, S. (2004). Linking simulation modelling to participatory research in smallholder farming systems. In Modelling Nutrient Management in Tropical Cropping Systems, 32-46 (Eds R. Delve and M. Probert). ACIAR Proceedings No. 114. Canberra, Australia: Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research.
5. Chikowo, R., Mapfumo, P., Nyamugafata, P. and Giller, K. E. (2003). Maize productivity and mineral dynamics following different soil fertility management practices on a depleted sandy soil in Zimbabwe. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 112:119-131.
6. Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) (2007). FA O/WFP crop and food supply assessment mission to Zimbabwe. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Special Report; World Food Programme, Rome, Italy. Available at: http://www.fao.org/giews (accessed 12 May 2009).
7. GenStat Release 9.1. Lawes Agricultural Trust. (2007). Rothamstead Experimental Station. Harpenden, UK.
8. Giller, K. E., Rowe, E. C., de Ridder, N. and van Keulen, H. (2006). Resource use dynamics and interactions in the tropics: scaling up in space and time. Agricultural Systems 88:8-27.
9. Hagmann, J. (1995). State and effectiveness of the mechanical conservation systems for rill erosion control in semiarid Masvingo. In Soil and Water Conservation for Smallholder Farmers in Semi-Arid Zimbabwe: Transfer Between Research and Extension, 91-103 (Eds S. Twomlow, J. Ellis-Jones, J. Hagmann and H. Loos). Proceedings of the Feedback Workshop, Masvingo, Zimbabwe, 3-7 April 1995.
10. Kamanga, B. C. G, Shamudzarira, Z. and Waddington, S. R. (2001). On-farm comparison of fertiliser application practices to assess Nitrogen use efficiency with maize in Zimuto Communal Area, Zimbabwe. In Seventh Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Maize Conference, 11-15 February 2001 519-522.
11. Makanganise, A., Mabasa, S., Jasi, L. and Gatsi, T. (2001). Verification trials and farmer-managed demonstrations in integrated weed management under different tillage systems and fertility levels in smallholder farming areas of Zimbabwe. In Seventh Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Conference, 11-15 February 2001, 508-512.
12. Mugabe, F. T., Hodnett, M. G. and Senzanje, A. (2003). Opportunities for increasing productive water use from dam water: a case study from semi-arid Zimbabwe. Agricultural Water Management 62:149-163.
13. Mugabe, F. T., Hodnett, M. G., Senzanje, A. and Gonah, T. (2004). Spatio-temporal rainfall and runoff variability of the Runde Catchment, Zimbabwe and the implication on surface water resources. African Water Journal 1:66-79.
14. Mupangwa, W. (2009). Water and Nitrogen Management for Risk Mitigation in Semi-Arid Cropping Systems. PhD Thesis, University of the Free State, Republic of South Africa, 351 pp.
15. Mushayi, P. T., Waddington, S. R. and Chiduza, C. (1998). Low efficiency of nitrogen use by maize on smallholder farms in sub-humid Zimbabwe. In Sixth Eastern & Southern Africa Regional Maize Conference, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 278-281. Texcoco, México: CIMMYT and the Ethiopian Agricultural Research Organisation.
16. Ncube, B., Twomlow, S. J., Dimes, J. P., van Wijk, M. T. and Giller, K. E. (2009, March). Resource flows, crops and soil fertility management in smallholder farming systems in semi-arid Zimbabwe. Soil Use and Management 25:78-90.
17. Ncube, B., Twomlow, S. J., van Wijk, M. T., Dimes, J. P. and Giller, K. E. (2007). Productivity and residual benefits of grain legumes to sorghum under semi-arid conditions in south-western Zimbabwe. Plant and Soil 299(1):1-15.
18. Nyamangara, J. (2007). Mineral nitrogen distribution in the soil profile of a maize field amended with cattle manure and mineral N under sub-humid tropical conditions. In Advances in Integrated Soil Fertility Management in Sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges and Opportunities, 737-748 (Eds A. Bationo, B. Waswa, J. Kihara and J. Kimetu). Berlin: Springer. ISBN: 10.1007/978-1-4020- 5760-1-69.
19. Nyamangara, J., Bergström, L. F., Piha, M. I. and Giller, K. E. (2003). Fertiliser use efficiency and nitrate leaching in a tropical sandy soil. Journal of Environmental Quality 32:599-606.
20. Nyamapfene, K. (1991). Soils of Zimbabwe. Harare, Zimbabwe: Nehanda Publishers.
21. Rockström, J. (2000). Water resources management in smallholder farms in eastern and southern Africa: an overview. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth (B) 25:275-283.
22. Rockström, J., Barron, J. and Fox, P. (2003). Water productivity in rain-fed agriculture: challenges and opportunities for smallholder farmers in drought-prone tropical agroecosystems. In Water Productivity in Agriculture: Opportunities for Improvement (Eds J. W. Kijne, R. Barker and D. Molden). Oxfordshire, UK: CAB International.
23. Rockström, J., Kaumbutho, P., Mwalley, J., Nzabi, A. W., Temesgen, M., Mawenya, L., Barron, J., Mutua, J. and Damgaard-Larsen, S. (2008). Conservation farming strategies in East and Southern Africa: yields and rain water productivity from on-farm action research. Soil & Tillage Research 103(2009):23-32.
24. Rusike, J., Dimes, J. P. and Twomlow, S. J. (2003). Risk-return trade-offs of smallholder investments in improved soil fertility management technologies in the semi-arid areas of Zimbabwe. Paper Presented at the 25th Conference of the International Association of Agricultural Economics, Durban, South Africa, 16-22 August 2003.
25. Sanchez, P. A. (2002). Soil fertility and hunger in Africa. Science 295(5562):2019-2020.
26. Steiner, K. G. and Rockström, J. (2003). Increasing rainwater productivity with conservation tillage. African Conservation Tillage Network (ACT), Information series No. 5. GTZ.
27. Steiner, K. G. and Twomlow, S. (2003). Weed management in conservation tillage systems. African Conservation Tillage Network, Information series No. 8. GTZ.
28. Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) (2001). Water Harvesting for Upgrading of Rain-Fed Agriculture. Problem Analysis and Research Needs. SIWI Report no. 11. Stockholm, Sweden: SIWI, 97 pp.
29. Tabo, R., Bationo, A., Gerard, B., Ndjeunga, J., Marchal, D., Amadou, B., Annou, G., Sogodogo, D., Taonda, J. B., Hassane, S., Maimouna, O., Diallo, K. and Koala, S. (2007). Improving cereal productivity and farmers' income using a strategic application of fertilisers in West Africa. In Advances in Integrated Soil Fertility Management in Sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges and Opportunities, 201-208 (Eds A. Bationo, B. Waswa, J. Kihara and J. Kimetu). Netherlands: Springer (www.springer.com). ISBN: 3 78-4020-575-5.
30. Twomlow, S., Hove, L., Mupangwa, W., Masikati, P. and Mashingaidze, N. (2009). Precision conservation agriculture for vulnerable farmers in low-potential zones. In Increasing the Productivity and Sustainability of Rainfed Cropping Systems of Poor Smallholder Farmers, 37-54 (Eds E. Humphreys and R. S. Bayot). Proceedings of the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food International Workshop on Rainfed Cropping Systems, Tamale, Ghana, 22-25 September 2008, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
31. Twomlow, S., Rohrbach, D., Dimes, J., Rusike, J., Mupangwa, W., Ncube, B., Hove, L., Moyo, M., Mashingaidze, N. and Maphosa, P. (2010). Micro dosing as a pathway to Africa's Green Revolution: evidence from broad scale on-farm trials. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems 88:3-15.
32. Twomlow, S. J., Rohrbach, D., Rusike, J., Mupangwa, W., Dimes, J. and Ncube, B. (2006b). Spreading the World on Fertiliser in Zimbabwe. Global Theme on Agro Ecosystems Report No. 24, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, 16 pp.
33. Twomlow, S. J., Steyn, T. and du Preez, C. C. (2006a). Dryland farming in Southern Africa. In Dryland Agriculture, 2nd Edn. Chapter 19, 769-836 (Eds G. A. Pearson, P. W. Unger and W. E. Payne), Agronomy Monograph Series No. 23.
34. Madison, Wisconsin:American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, Soil Science Society of America.
35. Twomlow, S. J., Urolov, J. C., Oldrieve, B. and Jenrich, M. (2008, December). Lessons from the field-Zimbabwe's Conservation Agriculture Task Force. Journal of SAT Agricultural Research 6(1):1-11.
36. Vincent, V. and Thomas, R. G. (1960). An Agricultural Survey of Southern Rhodesia. Part 1. Agro-Ecological Survey. Causeway, Salisbury, Rhodesia: Government Printers.