Browsing by Author "Tarimo, Akwilin J. P."

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    The impacts of current climate variability on coffee production in the northern and southern highlands of Tanzania
    (Canadian Center of Science and Education, 2021) Mbwambo, Suzana G.; Mourice, Sixbert K.; Tarimo, Akwilin J. P.
    Coffee is the most traded commodity in the world. In Tanzania, Coffee is the second largest traditional commodity. However, several climate change studies have predicted that coffee production will be reduced as a result of climate change. Therefore, the study aimed to assess the impact of current climate change on Tanzania’s Arabica coffee production and determine the most significant climatic variables, which influence coffee production in the respective regions. Global interpolated climatic database (Worldclim dataset) and official historical coffee production data from Tanzania Coffee Board for a period of 40 years (1970-2018) were used. Climatic parameters and coffee production were compared through descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and multiple regressions. The Mann-Kendall method was used to detect significant trends in climatic data. The minimum temperature has been increasing at a higher rate than the maximum temperature in the Northern and Southern Highlands zones. A 1 °C increase in minimum temperature (Tmin) during short rains and annual mean temperature (Tmean) resulted in a significant coffee production decrease (-6,041 and -4,450 tons) in Kilimanjaro and Arusha regions respectively. In the Southern Highlands zone coffee production positively correlated with temperature. A significant reduction in coffee production due to a decline in long rains was also observed in the Kilimanjaro region. The warming and drought trends are likely to continue with significant implications on coffee production and this, calls for the development of suitable adaptation strategies to sustain production. Such strategies may include, re-adapting the coffee agronomic practices to climate change, improving water and nutrient use efficiency in coffee trees, and developing genetically improved coffee cultivars that will tolerate the impact of climate change
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    Pre-harvest Loss Assessment of Maize crop in Semi-arid Areas in Tanzania Due to Rodent pests
    (African Journal of Agricultural Research, 2022) Mlyashimbi, Emmanuel C. M.; Kimaro, Didas N.; Tarimo, Akwilin J. P.; Machang’u, Robert S.; Isabirye, Moses; Makundi, Rhodes H; Leirs, Herwig; Massawe,Apia W.; Mdangi, Mashaka E.; Belmain, Steven R.; Mulungu, Loth S.
    Two experiments were conducted, first was to estimate maize seedling damage in farmers’ fields and a simulation experiment. This study aim to investigate the impact of rodent pest species, damage to maize crop in semi-arid areas at pre-harvest, with a view to provide farmers with appropriate information on rodent pest management interventions. In farmers’ fields, damage assessment was done by counting the number of damaged or removed seedlings at each planting hole while yield loss was determined from simulation experiment at five damage levels, viz; 0, 10, 25, 50, and 75% by removing seedlings per plot. Variation of damaged maize seedlings was compared between soil type and fields. The fields with black clay soils had higher damage of maize seedling (mean = 59.201±1.714) as compared to sandy loam soils (means = 49.742±1.714). The damage ranged from 30.17 to 71.91% in different fields. However, no effect was observed between interactions of maize fields and soil types. Results from simulation experiment showed no significant difference (p = 0.2357) among maize damage levels, although relatively higher yield losses were observed at 75%, while lowest yield losses in the control (0%). The increased seedling damage has an impact on final harvest; therefore, ecologically- based rodent management strategies appear to be good solution for reducing crop damage and should be encouraged to improve food security for smallholder farmers.