Integrated Soil Water and Nutrient Management and Dry ... - Icrisat

clay soils, while farmers with fields on sandy soils mostly plant millet. Soil
fertility varies greatly from place to place and so do the required nutrients.
Farmers’ preference for growing maize given the sparse rainfall limits the
yields.
A few farmers started working with ICRISAT in individual trials. Field
days hosted by trial farmers led other farmers to become interested in the
trials. However, it was not possible to involve everyone in these. At this point,
FFS were initiated in order to be able to accommodate at least 25 farmers in
the program. After village level meetings and discussions, meetings were
organized with AREX officials and researchers. The farmers identified and
ranked the major crop production problems they face: low rainfall, poor soils
and very low yields. They agreed to do something about these in order to get
better yields. Interested farmers volunteered to form the group. About 36
people initially volunteered but only 22 remained active farmers. Current
members consist of 20 female and 2 male farmers. As in Mkhubazi,
membership is mostly made up of women because the men are working in
South Africa. After formation, farmer-members elected a committee to lead
the group.
The farmer group decided on the site after the village head and villagers
agreed to allow them to set up the project. Plots were marked, tied ridges
constructed, furrows opened, and farmyard manure applied. Different rates of
fertilizer were applied in different plots and the seed was planted on the same
day, as required for the experiment.
During the 2001/2002 cropping season the group was very successful.
Although the plot was small, the farmers were able to understand and teach
each other the differences made by the treatments. Their trials looked at
developing crops that could mature earlier, and how moisture could be
retained in the field. They planted hybrid maize SC401 and sorghum variety
Macia, comparing tied ridges versus flat land (Table 1). They also tried to
compare the use of farmyard manure versus chemical fertilizer to see which
was stronger and more beneficial and by how much. They observed that where
they applied organic manure and top dressing, crops matured quickly,
produced good yields, and did not get burnt, as commonly believed.
The farmers focused mostly on soil nutrient management, moisture
conservation, crops suitable to the region, and other operations performed
throughout the growing period of the crop, such as application of inorganic
fertilizer and pest control up to harvesting time and storage.
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