TECHNICAL AND ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE OF ANIMAL-DRAWN IMPLEMENTS FOR MINIMUM TILLAGE: EXPERIENCE ON VERTISOLS IN ETHIOPIA

Land degradation is one of the major problems related to low productivity in Ethiopia. Vertisols are potential agricultural lands but are underutilized due to waterlogging during the rainy season and are prone to soil erosion due to the traditional practices of planting crops at the end of the rainy...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Experimental agriculture 2002-04, Vol.38 (2), p.185-196
Main Authors: Astatke, A., Jabbar, M., Mohamed Saleem, M. A., Erkossa, T.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural land
Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions
Biological and medical sciences
cost benefit analysis
Crop planting
crop yield
Cropping systems. Cultivation. Soil tillage
Crops
cultivators
draft animals
drainage
durum wheat
Farmers
fertilizer rates
flooded conditions
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General agronomy. Plant production
Land degradation
Livestock
minimum tillage
Rain
Rainy season
row spacing
Seeds
small farms
Soil erosion
Soil tillage
sowing
Tillage
tillage implements
Tillage. Tending. Growth control
Triticum turgidum subsp. durum
Vertisols
Waterlogging
Wheat
wheat straw
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Summary:Land degradation is one of the major problems related to low productivity in Ethiopia. Vertisols are potential agricultural lands but are underutilized due to waterlogging during the rainy season and are prone to soil erosion due to the traditional practices of planting crops at the end of the rainy season exposing bare land to heavy rains. An animal-drawn implement, the broadbed maker (BBM), was tested to facilitate drainage of the Vertisols. Improved drainage enables earlier planting of crops to use the resultant prolonged growing period for attaining higher yields. In order to further improve the BBM package, the frame of the BBM was used for attachment of other implements to minimize tillage practices and reduce seed and fertilizer rates, labour and animal power requirements and soil erosion. The attachments were tested both on-station and on-farm with positive results.
ISSN:0014-4797
1469-4441
DOI:10.1017/S0014479702000248