Assessment of in-situ rainwater harvesting techniques for improving smallholder maize production in semi arid areas of Morogoro, Tanzania
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Date
2003
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Publisher
Sokoine University of Agriculture
Abstract
A study was conducted at Morogoro, Tanzania during long rains ('Masika') to
evaluate the effect of in~situ rainwater harvesting (RWH) techniques in improving
maize yield. Three commonly used techniques, ridging after planting (RA), ridging
before planting (RJB), and tied ridging (TR) were tested against a no tillage practice
locally known as "kuberega" (K) on an Oxic Paleustalf soil with maize (Zea maize
L.) variety TMV1 as the test crop. Daily rainfall was recorded and the total rainfall
received during the 2001/02 growing season was 562 mm with a series of dry spells.
Moisture content at 0-15 and 15-30 cm depth was measured twice weekly.
Significantly (p<0.05) higher soil moisture variation and lower moisture content
were noted in treatment K than in the other treatments. Treatments RB and TR had
lower moisture variations and higher moisture content throughout the season. Grain
yield, biomass, plant height, bulk density, infiltration rates (on the ridge and in the
furrow), runoff and soil loss were also measured. Significant differences were
observed among the treatments (p<0.05) in runoff, soil loss, on ridge infiltration,
grain yield, and biomass. The maize yield ranged between 2.97 Mg/ha and 3.89
Mg/ha for treatments K and RB, respectively. The runoff loss was highest for K and
least for TR. Treatments K and RA did not differ significantly from each other but
differed significantly from RB and TR (p<0.05). Soil loss had a similar trend as that
of runoff. More runoff loss was recorded early than late in the season. On ridge
infiltration was not significantly different for treatments TR, RA, and RB but was
significantly higher than the control (K) at (p<0.05). On furrow infiltration, however,
had a reverse order with K having higher rates. Bulk density in both depths (0-15 and higher bulk density. The results show that ridges are effective in-situ rainwater harvesting technique that conserves water and soil and improves productivity.However, ridging after planting is inferior to both ridging before planting and tied ridging.15-30 cm) was not statistically different (p<0.05), however treatment K had slightl
Description
Dissertation
Keywords
Rainwater Harvesting, Situ Rainwater Harvesting Techniques, Soil moisture variation, Water Stress