Conservation agriculture Tanzania_casestudy.pdf - Sokoine ...

conservation agriculture implements. Research, Community and OrganizationalDevelopment Associates (RECODA) started diversifying crops, reducing tillage andintroducing cover and fodder crops. Tanganyika Farmers Association (TFA) is anagricultural supplier that sells conservation agriculture implements as well as otherfarm supplies. The Participatory Agricultural and Empowerment Project (PADEP)focused on alleviating farmer problems by using participatory approaches to improvelivelihoods. Monsanto, a private firm, was involved in herbicides. ConservationAgriculture and Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development (CASARD)facilitated and accelerated conservation agriculture by training farmers and supplyingimplements. Women’s Agriculture Development and Environmental Conservation(WADEC) introduced conservation agriculture practices. The International Maizeand Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) promoted conservation agriculturepractices such as reduced tillage and intercropping.In Arumeru farmers were interested in any technology that would increase yieldat affordable production cost and save labour. The main conservation agricultureentry points include improving soil fertility, reducing soil erosion and degradation,reducing labour and increasing yields.Conservation agriculture tests and implements technology that works. Suppliers ofequipment for conservation agriculture mostly provide ripper attachments, subsoilersand direct ripper planters. They maintain and service the equipment. Conservationagriculture uses cover crops and crop residue as soil cover. Several cover crops wereintroduced to maintain soil moisture, reduce runoff, increase infiltration, reducesoil erosion, and increase and maintain organic matter through both dry and wetseasons. Generally, crop rotation is minimal and mainly practised in intercroppedfarms. Pigeon pea and maize are followed by pigeon pea alone, followed by maizeand beans or lablab. Indigenous conservation agriculture knowledge existed beforethe current projects and its indigenous techniques were practised by farmers ontheir own. Agroforestry and contour construction are traditional and widely used,especially near Mt Meru. Other indigenous practices include intercropping pigeonpea, soybean, sweetpotato and pumpkin, which act as a cover crop after harvestingthe main crop.Although conservation agriculture is a recent concept in Arumeru District, thepathways to adapting and diffusing it have depended on agricultural developmentfacilitators, the climate, the geography, the farming system and the socio-economicsin which it was introduced. Small-scale farmers chose to use jab planters becausethey were easy to use and maintain. Conservation agriculture was associated withdirect household benefits, involving farmer groups, availability of supplies, outsidersbeing motivated, and the weather.The main approaches and methods used to adapt, disseminate and scale upconservation agriculture included farmer field schools, innovative farmers, farmervisits, group visits, tours, on-farm trials, demonstration plots, field days and extensionpublications. Adoption depended on finances, land tenure, age and amount of landowned.The benefits associated with conservation agriculture influence households to usecover crops, train other farmers in ‘exotic knowledge’ and spread the technology.Arumeru District 7