Adaptation to climate change and fertilization of maize legume intercrop in Mozambique

Abstract

A survey was conducted in Lichinga and Sussundenga districts of Mozambique to determine the key constraints limiting production of maize, the factors influencing farmers' decision making on fertilizer use and to evaluate the farmers' perceptions and adaptation to climate change. In addition, the beneficial effects of combining legume with organic and inorganic nutrient sources were investigated, using maize as a test crop. The experiments were conducted at Lichinga and Sussundenga Research Station in Mozambique. Results showed that 15% of respondents in Lichinga use inorganic fertilizer and 12.5% organic fertilizer from goat manure. In Sussundenga 10% of respondents use inorganic fertilizer and 27.5% organic fertilizer from cow manu[~. ,,;In Lichinga" 72.5% of respondents practice I·~~ , maize/legume intercropping while in Sussundenga 82.5% of respondents grow their practice monocropping system. Farmers in both locations identified lack of ~abour, high cost of fertilizer and non-existent extension services as the major constraints to maize production. To cope with the constraints, farmers have adopted strategies such as use of hired labour, crop residues and farmer to farmer extension support services. With regard to climate change, 45% of respondents in Sussundenga and 40% Lichinga indicated to have experienced unusual weather conditions over the past decade. The farmers from both districts sited rainfall variability and higher temperatures to have severely affected maize production. Due to the late o~et of rains in Lichinga, the planting period has changed from November (47.5%) to December (70%) while in Sussundenga the planting period has changed from September/October (40%) to November (62.5%). The rain seasons have become shorter and dry seasons are longer. Respondents indicated a combination of strategies to adapt to climate change, such as change in crop variety, planting cassava and sweet potato, kitchen garden and shifting from farm to non-farm activities. Field trials on combined use of organic and inorganic fertilizers showed significant differences (P < 0.05) between treatments and plants grown in Sussundenga gave higher values of stover yield weight, plant height, hundred seed weight and total grain yield compared to Lichinga. The result shows that a combination of cow manure and NPK fertilizer significantly increased the yield of maize over application of cow manure or NPK alone and control. Since the optimum yield of the maize was achieved at a combination of cow manure (1.25 ton ha') + NPK (100 kg ha-1 ) giving 7.57 ton ha-1 compared to 5.11 ton ha-1 in control, farmers need to adopt the method of combination of organic and inorganic fertilizer for increased yield. It was concluded that maize yields remain more stable.in maize and common bean than in maize and .<,..{.a- Il f·~ , soybean intercropping.