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3.1.2. Lubero test area
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The climatic data of the 1NEAC station N ’Dihira (altitude 2,190 m), at
about 30 km from Lubero, can be considered as representative for the Lubero
test area : mean temperature : 15.0 °C, maximum temperature : 20.2 °C,
minimum temperature: 9.7 °C, radiation (n/N) : 0.39, rainfall: 1,324 mm,
evaporation : 986 mm ; humid the whole year, with an intermediary period
in June and July.
Traditional agriculture
At this altitude bananas and cassava disappear and traditional farming was
originally based on sweet potatoes, beans and maize. During the colonization
period the flour mills were constructed in Lubero, providing flour to almost
the whole country and barley for a number of local breweries. From the
fifties on, the original farming system was for a great part replaced by a
rotation where wheat, barley and white potatoes became important crops.
The region also became a production area for imported European vegetables.
Due to a campaign of the flour mills, barley disappeared from the crop pattern.
On the residential plot maize, beans or peas and vegetables are cultivated.
On the major part of cultivable land the following crop rotation is applied :
white potatoes, wheat, beans, maize, beans and wheat over 3 years, followed
by 6 years fallow on SI land, 8 years on S2 land, and 10 years on S3 land.
During the intermediary (dryer) period the valley soils are used to cultivate
some beans and maize (fig. 2).
This crop pattern results in the following distribution of cultivable land :
Season A : beans : 0.4 ha, white potatoes : 0.2 ha ;
Season B : wheat : 0.4 ha, maize : 0.2 ha.
Farm size
51 land : 30.9 ha per km2
Residential plot : 0.30 ha, food crops and fallow (9 plots x 0.20 ha) : 1.80 ha,
total : 2.10 ha ;
Number of farms : 14.7 per km2.
52 land : 23.1 ha per km2
Food crops and fallow (11 plots * 0.20 ha) : 2.20 ha, total : 2.50 ha ;
Number of farms : 9.2 per km2.
53 land : 4.6 ha per km2
Food crops and fallow (13 plots x 0.20 ha) : 2.60 ha, total : 2.90 ha ;
Number of farms : 1.6 per km2 ;
Valley soils : 1.33 ha : 25.5 = 0.05 ha per farm.
Table 8 gives the crop yields for the different suitability classes. Table 9
summarizes the number of food portions of 2,220 Kcal that the area can
produce.