Conservation agriculture Tanzania_casestudy.pdf - Sokoine ...

Table 1. Agricultural characteristics of Wanging’ombe and Mshewe WardsCharacteristics Wanging’ombe MsheweAltitude (m) 1200–1500 a 1000–1500 aRainfall (annual mm) 600–900 a 900–1200 aMonths of rainfall November–April a November–April aTopography undulating to rolling a rolling plain with dissectedescarpment aSoilsyellow-red sands of shallowdepth and hardpan ashallow gravelly ironstoneoverlying soft weatheringrock aLand (ha) 46,325 37,735Land use arable, pasture and forest arable, pasture and forestArea under crops (ha) 17,580 (37.9%) 6,085 (16.1%)Farming systemsmaize-based, with sunfl ower,beans and groundnutcattle and goatsoxen till more than 80% of thelandmaize-based, with sunfl ower,beans, sweet potato andgroundnutcattle and pigsoxen till about 65% of the landCrop yields (t/ha) maize: 2.0beans: 0.13sunfl ower: 0.6groundnut: 0.3maize: 2.6beans: 1.0sunfl ower: 1.5sweetpotato: 13Average area/household3.0 ha: maize 1.2, sunfl ower& cowpea 1.4, groundnut 0.41.7 ha: maize 1.0, sunfl ower0.5, beans & groundnut 0.1aMussei et al. 2000 and fi eld data from surveyMbeya District 115