RA 00048.pdf - OAR@ICRISAT

To Kayes
700
8
600
6
Tenenkou
MOPTI
Bandiagara 600
14
800
Kolokani
900
Banamba
SEGOU
Massina
D jenne
Tominian
Bankass
Korg
700
1000
800
1100
BAMAKO
Fana
Kimparana
900
Dioila
Koutiala
Yorosso
1000
Bougouni
1400
Yanfolila
G U I N E A
8
Kolondieba
Kadiolo
SIKASSO
1300
1200
1100
Rice
Cotton
Kilometers
IVORY COAST 1400 6 4
Kenaf
CMDT limit
Project cotton ginnery
Existing cotton ginneries
800 Isohyets in millimeters
Major roads
Rivers
International boundaries
0 50 100 200
Figure 7. Mali Sud agricultural Project
In the area of Sikasso they work with a daba
which has a large blade which is mounted
obliquely on a short handle. In the rest of the zone,
the blade is small to average size mounted on a
long handle with the end curved for ease in
handling when used. In the CMDT Zone 3 4 % of
the farmers have only this equipment while the
situation in the whole country is 60%.
Traditional tools of local fabrication, often well
adapted for their intended use, are of average
quality and permit farmers to neither improve their
traditional cultural practices nor to speed their
execution.
The large-scale introduction of cash crops
brought about a rapid reduction in the amount of
time devoted to food crops.
Modern Equipment
Single row "light" mechanization with animal
traction appeared in Mali in 1928. The General
Directorate of Agriculture at that time through its
three administrative centers, the Office du Niger,
Baroueli, M'Pessoba with their master workers
(farmers) whom they trained, began animal traction.
The plow was the first piece of equipment
introduced and the same type of plow can be
seen today, La Bajac B2, and B4, in the ricegrowing
as well as the upland areas with the
cotton and cereal crops.
The animal traction weeder came later and
finally a complement of equipment for working
the soil.
The Plow
Farmers in the CMDT zone are very fond of one
type of plow—the Bajac TM (Tropical Mali). This
plow weighs 34 kg and has a furrow slice of 11
inches (27.5 cm). It is generally pulled by one pair
of bullocks, usually equipped with a neck yoke,
but one sees some head yokes. This plow was
originally made for a horse, but this animal is not
used for agricultural activities (in Mali), and so it
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