Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T10:43:59.911Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Integration of Forage and Food Crops Grown Sequentially on Vertisols under Rainfed Conditions in the Mid-Altitude Ethiopian Highlands

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 October 2008

Abate Tedla ,
J. Sherington  and
M. A. Mohamed-Saleem
Abate Tedla
Affiliation:
International Livestock Centre for Africa (ILCA), PO Box 5689, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
J. Sherington
Affiliation:
International Livestock Centre for Africa (ILCA), PO Box 5689, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
M. A. Mohamed-Saleem
Affiliation:
International Livestock Centre for Africa (ILCA), PO Box 5689, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Poor drainage of Vertisols in the Ethiopian mid-altitude highlands limits farming operations and cropping in the early rainy season (July–August). Traditional crops are grown on residual moisture late in the season (September–January) when waterlogging is less of a problem. Productivity is therefore below its potential. The recent introduction of a broadbed and furrow system for improved drainage on Vertisols allows full use of the growing period and provides scope for a wider variety of cropping systems and increased productivity. Trials using a sequential cropping system demonstrated that two crops a year can be grown when Vertisols are drained. The crops used in the trial were oats or an oat/vetch mixture forage in the early season followed by grasspea or chickpea food crops in the late season as the second crop. Further on-farm research on sequential cropping of forages and food crops in the mid-altitude highlands of Ethiopia is now needed.

Type
Research Article
Information
Experimental Agriculture , Volume 30 , Issue 3 , July 1994 , pp. 291 - 298
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Asamenew, G. (1991). A Study of the Farming Systems of Some Ethiopian Highland Vertisol Areas. Working document. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: ILCA.Google Scholar
Asamenew, G., Zerbini, E. & Tedla, A. (1991). Crop Livestock Interaction and Implication for Animal Traction Research in the Ethiopian Highlands. Paper presented to the Fourth National Livestock Improvement Conference,13–15 November 1991,Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.Google Scholar
Astatke, A. & Saleem, M. A. M. (1992). Low Cost Animal Drawn Implements for Better Utilization of Vertisols in the Ethiopian Highlands. In Reports and Papers on the Management of Vertisols (IBSRAM/AFRICALAND), Network Document No. 1, 67–74. Nairobi, Kenya: International Board for Soil Research and Management.Google Scholar
Astatke, A., Airaksinen, H. & Saleem, M. A. M. (1991). Supplementary irrigation for sequential cropping in the Ethiopian highland Vertisols using broadbed and furrow land management system. Agricultural Water Management 20:173–184.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beyene, H., Franzel, S. & Mwangi, W. (1989). Constraints to increase wheat production in Ethiopia's small holder sector. In The Sixth Regional Wheat Workshop for Eastern, Central and Southern Africa. Proceedings of a Workshop held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, October 2–6, 1989, 284–293 (Eds Tanner, D. G., Ginkel, M. and Mwangi, W.).Google Scholar
Debele, B. (1983). The Vertisols of Ethiopia: their properties, classification and management. In Fifth Meeting of Eastern African Sub-Committee for Soil Correlation and Land Evaluation, Wad Medani, Sudan, 5–10 December, 1983. World Soil Resources Report No. 56, 31–54. Rome: FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization).Google Scholar
Jutzi, S. C. (1986). Deep black soils (Vertisols management options for Ethiopian highlands). African Mountains Workshop, Geo-ecology International Geographical Union, 18–27 October, 1986, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.Google Scholar
Kamara, C. S. & Haque, I. (1987). Characteristics of Vertisol at ILCA Research and Outreach Sites in Ethiopia (revised June, 1988). Plant Science Division Working Document No. B5. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: ILCA.Google Scholar
Mamo, T. (1989). Recent experimental work on Vertisol management in Ethiopia: the experience of Alemaya University of Agriculture. In Proceedings of a Workshop on Vertisol Management in Africa, 16–21 January, 1989, Harare, Zimbabwe. IBSRAM Proceeding No. 9, 181–192.Google Scholar
Sahile, G. & Tedla, A. (1993). Effects of weeding practices on grain and straw yields of durum wheat under traditional and improved seedbed preparation on Vertisols in the Ethiopian highlands. Paper presented at the Fifth Annual Conference of the Crop Science Society of Ethiopia,February 2–3, 1983,Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.Google Scholar
Tedla, A. & Saleem, M. A. M. (1992). Cropping systems for Vertisols of the Ethiopian highlands. In Reports and Papers on the Management of Vertisols (IBSRAM AFRICALAND), Network Document No. 1, 55–66. Nairobi, Kenya: International Board for Soil Research and Management.Google Scholar
Tekalign, (1989).Google Scholar
Willey, R. W. (1987). Cropping systems evaluation. In Proceedings of the First Regional Seminar on Management of Vertisols under Semi-arid Conditions, 1–16 December 1986, Nairobi, Kenya. IBSRAM Proceedings No. 6, 299–309.Google Scholar
Willey, R. W., Singh, R. P. & Reedy, M. S. (1985). Cropping Systems for Vertisols. The Inaugural Workshop on Management of Vertisols for Improved Agricultural Production. 18–22 February 1985, Patancheru, India. IBSRAM.Google Scholar