Food Security: a Case of Maize Production in Kandara District, Muranga County
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Joint proceedings of the 27th Soil Science Society of East Africa and the 6th African Soil Science Society Food security: A case of maize production in Kandara District, Muranga County P.T. Kamoni, J. Kimigo, C.N. Kibunja, A.O. Esilaba1 and V.N. Gathaara Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, Kabete, P.O. Box 14733-00800 Nairobi 1KARI-HQ, P.O. Box 57811-00200, Nairobi Abstract A maize agronomic study was conducted between May and August 2012 in a 10 x 10 km block in Kandara District. The objectives of the study were to determine factors affecting maize production in the County and actual maize production under farmers’ practices and management. A questionnaire was used to collect information on maize growing, management practices and actual yields under farmers’ practices. Questionnaires were administered to farmers in 16 clusters of 15-20 farmers separated by 2.5 km within the block. A total of 302 farmers were interviewed between May and July 2012. Maize yields from 238 farms were measured in August 2012 from replicate plots measuring 2 x 3 m within a 5 x 5-m plot. Soil analysis for available nutrients was carried out at the Kenya Agricultural Researc Institute (KAR) at Kabete. Most (30.5%) of the farms produced 1-2 t ha-1 of maize grain. Only 6.4% of the farms produced more than 5 t ha-1. Most (87%) of the farmers used their own unique maize spacing. The use of improved maize varieties was widespread. Only 20.5% of the farmers planted a local maize variety Most (62%) of the farms had Nitrogen deficiency while 25% had phosphorus deficiency. Soil pH on most farms was within the satisfactory range for crop growth except in 18.4% of the farms where it was 4.27-4.99. Fertiliser (NPK) was the most popular followed by DAP. On average, 89% of the farmers were using inorganic fertilisers while 91% used manure. Fertiliser application rates in Kandara are low. Since plot sizes in Kandara are small (0.01-0.5 ha) food security can only be improved by increasing maize production per unit area. Key words: maize yields, spacing, maize varieties, nutrient deficiency, fertiliser, manure. Introduction Many factors limit crop production on smallholder farms in Kenya. These include low and declining soil fertility, pests and diseases, lack of inputs, farmers inability to purchase inputs in sufficient quantities, low quality of inputs such as manure, fertilisers and seeds and farmers knowhow. Past research has generated numerous soil fertility technologies that can increase rural incomes and food production. However, the gap between research and application of best nutrient management practices is wide. The proportion of small-scale farmers using fertiliser varies from 10% in the dry lowlands to over 85% in central and northwestern Kenya. Mineral fertilisers are an important entry point to increasing crop productivity, and substantial increases in crop yields have been demonstrated using modest amounts of fertiliser. Combining mineral fertilisers with organic resources such as manure leads to improved nutrient use efficiencies than when used separately (Esilaba and Kibunja, 2010). A maize agronomic study was conducted between May and August 2012 in a 10 × 10-km block in Kandara County. The work was conducted jointly by the Kenya Soil Survey (KSS) and the Plant Nutrition Programme of the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), Kabete. The soils of the area are described as well drained, extremely deep, dusky red to dark reddish brown, friable clay, with an acid humic topsoil classified as humic Nitosols (Sombroek et al., 1982). Plot sizes are small (90% of the plots are 0.01-0.05 ha). Crops grown under rainfed are maize and bananas while sweetpotatoes, kales, sugarcane and cut flowers are grown under irrigation. The livestock in the farms consist of dairy cattle and goats under zero-grazing with Napier grass as the main fodder. The objectives of the study were to (a) determine factors affecting maize production in Kandara County and (b) assess actual maize production under farmers’ practices and management. 1 Transforming rural livelihoods in Africa: How can land and water management contribute to enhanced food security and address climate change adaptation and mitigation Nakuru, Kenya. 20-25 October 2013 Joint proceedings of the 27th Soil Science Society of East Africa and the 6th African Soil Science Society Materials and methods Study site The 10 × 10 km Kandara block (36˚ 57’ 08’’E and 36˚ 02’ 31’’E; 0˚ 51’ 02’’S and 0˚ 51’ 02’’S) lies within four agroecological zones (lower highland zone one [LH1], Upper midland zones 1, 2 and 3 [UM1, UM2 and UM3] (Jaetzold et al., 2006) while the Kandara 10 x 10 km block site lies within UM1 and UM2. Zone UM1 covers 2570 ha while UM2 covers 7430 ha. It receives bimodal average annual rainfall of 1200-1600 mm. Rainfall in the first rainy season (March-August) ranges from 500-700 mm and 300-400 mm in the secondrainy season (October-February) (Jaetzold et al., 2006). The mean annual temperature is 18.0-19.7° C. The mean annual potential evaporation (Eo) is 1200-2100 mm (Jaetzold et al., 2006). The soils of the area are described as well drained, extremely deep, dusky red to dark reddish brown, friable clay, with an acid humic topsoil classified as humic Nitosols (Sombroek et al., 1982). Plot sizes are small (90% of the plots measure 0.01-0.05 ha). Crops grown under rainfed are maize and bananas while sweetpotatoes, kales, sugarcane and cut flowers are under irrigation. Other rain-fed crops and fruits include tea, coffee, beans, mangoes, avocados and macadamia nuts. Livestock consist of dairy cattle and goats under zero-grazing with Napier grass as the main fodder. Data collection A structured questionnaire was used to collect information on maize growing, management practices and harvests under farmers’ practices. Data were taken on name of farmer, location, crops planted, row and hill spacing, (number of plants in the 5 x 5-m plots, planting dates, whether thinning was done or not, weeding and timing, estimate of weed cover, pests and diseases, soil quality, soil conservation measures, GPS coordinates of whole farm and plots under maize and maize yields. Questionnaires were administered to farmers in 16 clusters, 2.5 km from each other in the block. Each cluster had 15-20 farmers. A total of 302 farmers were interviewed between May and July 2012 and soil samples from a depth of 0-30 cm collected from each farm for fertility analysis. Maize was harvested from 238 farms in August 2012 from replicate plots measuring 2 × 3 m within a 5 × 5 m-plot. Soil analysis The soil samples collected from the field were air-dried and sieved through a 2-mm sieve before analysis. Soil pH and electrical conductivity (EC) were measured using the analytical procedure described by Hinga et al. (1980). Organic carbon was determined using the procedure described byAnderson and Ingram (1993). Total nitrogen (N) was determined using the procedure described by Okalebo et al. (2002). Potassium (K) and sodium (Na) and calcium (Ca) were determined with a flame photometer. magnesium (Mg) and manganese (Mn) were determined calorimetrically and P was determined using Olsen method (Hinga et al., 1980). Iron, copper and zinc were determined using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). Data analysis The data collected using the questionnaires were entered into the Census and Survey Processing System (CSPro) software using pre-designed templates after first verifying and correcting any errors. The data were then exported to an Excel spreadsheet for analysis. Results Maize grain and dry matter yields under farmer’s practice Table 1 shows the maize yields from 236 farms within the 10 × 10 km block. Most farms (30.5%) produced 1-2 t of maize grain and only 6.4% of the farms produced more than 5 t ha-1 while 9.3% had less than one tonne per hectare. Farmers’ crop management practices Maize spacing. Table 2 shows the measured maize inter-row and intra-row spacings from the 231 farms. Two hundred and one households used their own spacing. Thirty had a form of shared spacing. 2 Transforming rural livelihoods in Africa: How can land and water management contribute to enhanced food security and address climate change adaptation and mitigation Nakuru, Kenya. 20-25 October 2013 Joint proceedings of the 27th Soil Science Society of East Africa and the 6th African Soil Science Society Table 1: Maize grain yield in Kandara 10 × 10 km block under farmers’ practice, August 2012 Mean maize yields (t ha-1) No. of harvested farms Total farms harvested (%) 0-1 22 9.3 1-2 72 30.5 2-3 70 29.7 3-4 41 17.4 4-5 16 6.8 > 5000 15 6.4 Total 236 Table 2: Shared maize inter- and intra-row spacings in the Kandara10 × 10 km block Inter-row x intrarow spacing (cm) No. of farmers using the spacing 80 × 40 5 80 × 42 2 85 × 42 2 87 × 50 2 90 × 40 4 95 × 40 2 97 × 46 2 100 × 40 4 100 × 41 2 100 × 50 3 100 × 55 2 Total 30 The wide variation in inter-row and intra-row spacing had no significant effect on maize yield (F(10, 27) = 0.657, p, 0.748). The arrows in the Figure are error bars. The arrows in the Figure are error bars. Figure 2. Effect of inter- and intra-row spacing on maize yield in the Kandara 10 × 10-km block Maize varieties Some (20.5%) of the farmers plant a local varieties while another 20.5% prefer using more than one variety per farm per season.