Effectiveness of sustainable land management practices in controlling invasive plants and improving crop productivity in East Usambara, Tanzania.
| dc.contributor.author | Kaaya, Omega, Emmanuel | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2022-10-25T07:46:44Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2022-10-25T07:46:44Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2021 | |
| dc.description | Masters Dissertation | en_US |
| dc.description.abstract | Invasive plant species (IPS) present significant threats to agriculture globally by increasing land preparation and weeding costs and reducing agricultural productivity, consequently IPS reduce yield which leads to low food security particularly for smallholder farmers. In Africa’s agro ecosystems, the management of IPS has been challenging due to a lack of sustainable practices. The traditional practices that have been used are ineffective. Sustainable Land Management (SLM) practices which are developed by diverse stakeholders have the potential to control IPS and improve small-holder farmers’ livelihood but their effectiveness have not been studied. We tested SLM practices and traditional practices to compare their effectiveness in the control of three IPS namely Lantana camara, Clidemia hirta and Pteridium aquilinum, on five farms owned and managed by small-holder farmers. We assessed the farms planted with Cassava (Manihot esculenta) for one cropping season (one year), we compared IPS density, soil condition, plant species diversity and herbaceous biomass between SLM farms and Traditional farms. We also compared the yield of Cassava between SLM practice and traditional practices. Density of IPS, diversity of plant species, and herbaceous biomass and cassava yield was recorded. Data were collected before the implementation and every three months up to the end of cropping season, at the end of the cropping season yield data were collected for both practices. The SLM practices reduced the density of the three IPS, Clidemia hirta by 94% Lantana camara by 96% and Pteridium aquilinum by 46% and the yield of Cassava was 20% higher in SLM practices than under traditional practices. SLM practice significantly reduced IPS density and improved cassava yield with no effects to soil and plant diversity. Therefore, the study findings suggests that SLM practice used is effective enough to be recommended to farmers in control of IPS. | en_US |
| dc.description.sponsorship | Woody Weeds project in East Africa | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://www.suaire.sua.ac.tz/handle/123456789/4721 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
| dc.publisher | Sokoine University of Agriculture | en_US |
| dc.subject | Sustainable land management | en_US |
| dc.subject | Controlling invasive plants | en_US |
| dc.subject | Improving crop productivity | en_US |
| dc.subject | East Usambara | en_US |
| dc.subject | Tanzania | en_US |
| dc.title | Effectiveness of sustainable land management practices in controlling invasive plants and improving crop productivity in East Usambara, Tanzania. | en_US |
| dc.type | Thesis | en_US |