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food crops, such as massive subsidies for fertiliser and irrigation without regard to
livestock improvement, have grave implications for the environment. Keeping a
large number of low productive animals will encourage free-range grazing and consumption of crop residues in the field, resulting in poor management of both crop
residues and manure. Continual removal of crop residue biomass, either through
burning or free-range grazing, will deplete soil organic matter and is environmentally unsustainable in the long term (Valbuena et al. 2012). Crop residue allocation
to livestock feeding will enhance manure availability for crop production and thus
lead to improved income from sales of milk and meat. The added revenue may be
used to buy fertiliser to improve crop yield and farm income. Additional future food
and feed production on smallholder farms can consequently take place through
increased productivity per unit area. For this to happen, sustainable intensification
of both crop and livestock is inevitable.
The question is, therefore, how can crop productivity be increased to meet
increased food demand for human and feed for livestock and still reduce mining of
soil nutrients?
We believe it can happen through intensification of crop production by adopting
improved agronomic practices (IAPs) for strategic soil fertility management, water
conservation, weed and pest control and use of improved crop varieties. There is a
need, therefore, to breed and promote crop varieties with high grain yields and high
yields of good-quality residues and resistance to the significant biotic and abiotic
stresses such as pests, diseases, parasitic weeds, drought and low fertility. In Kenya
highlands maize-dairy systems, feeding maize stover of improved varieties with
high grain yield and resistant to maize streak virus disease resulted in higher milk
yields and better animal health; and as a consequence, there was improved household income generation (Lenne and Thomas 2006).
Another question is why do smallholder farmers tend to be late in adopting the
new improved agronomic practices (IAPs) for sustainable intensification of crop
production?
The reasons could be high prices and lack of knowledge about the use of fertilisers, pesticides, herbicides, improved crop variety seeds and other inputs. As a result,
most smallholder farmers in the country recycle crop seeds and apply a meagre
amount of fertiliser (Westengen and Berg 2016; Mtengeti et al. 2016). Another constraint for the low adoption of IAPs by the smallholder farmers is that they come in
various packages, each lacking the profit margin needed to motivate the poor farmers
to adopt (Foster and Rosenweig 2010). We believe IAPs for sustainable intensification of crop production should come in a single package, promoted by a strong partnership between public technical advisory institutions/NGOs and agro-input
industries. Consequently, from 2011 to 2014, we initiated a public-private partnership (PPP) between the two public universities, the Sokoine University of Agriculture
and Norwegian University of Life Sciences, and two international agro-input companies, namely, Yara and Syngenta. The PPP aimed at conducting research and demonstrating how to achieve sustainable agricultural intensification under smallholder
maize and rice farmers through effective plant nutrient management and protection
for increasing crop productivity whilst preserving the environment. The paper
E. J. Mtengeti et al.
food crops, such as massive subsidies for fertiliser and irrigation without regard to
livestock improvement, have grave implications for the environment. Keeping a
large number of low productive animals will encourage free-range grazing and consumption of crop residues in the field, resulting in poor management of both crop
residues and manure. Continual removal of crop residue biomass, either through
burning or free-range grazing, will deplete soil organic matter and is environmentally unsustainable in the long term (Valbuena et al. 2012). Crop residue allocation
to livestock feeding will enhance manure availability for crop production and thus
lead to improved income from sales of milk and meat. The added revenue may be
used to buy fertiliser to improve crop yield and farm income. Additional future food
and feed production on smallholder farms can consequently take place through
increased productivity per unit area. For this to happen, sustainable intensification
of both crop and livestock is inevitable.
The question is, therefore, how can crop productivity be increased to meet
increased food demand for human and feed for livestock and still reduce mining of
soil nutrients?
We believe it can happen through intensification of crop production by adopting
improved agronomic practices (IAPs) for strategic soil fertility management, water
conservation, weed and pest control and use of improved crop varieties. There is a
need, therefore, to breed and promote crop varieties with high grain yields and high
yields of good-quality residues and resistance to the significant biotic and abiotic
stresses such as pests, diseases, parasitic weeds, drought and low fertility. In Kenya
highlands maize-dairy systems, feeding maize stover of improved varieties with
high grain yield and resistant to maize streak virus disease resulted in higher milk
yields and better animal health; and as a consequence, there was improved household income generation (Lenne and Thomas 2006).
Another question is why do smallholder farmers tend to be late in adopting the
new improved agronomic practices (IAPs) for sustainable intensification of crop
production?
The reasons could be high prices and lack of knowledge about the use of fertilisers, pesticides, herbicides, improved crop variety seeds and other inputs. As a result,
most smallholder farmers in the country recycle crop seeds and apply a meagre
amount of fertiliser (Westengen and Berg 2016; Mtengeti et al. 2016). Another constraint for the low adoption of IAPs by the smallholder farmers is that they come in
various packages, each lacking the profit margin needed to motivate the poor farmers
to adopt (Foster and Rosenweig 2010). We believe IAPs for sustainable intensification of crop production should come in a single package, promoted by a strong partnership between public technical advisory institutions/NGOs and agro-input
industries. Consequently, from 2011 to 2014, we initiated a public-private partnership (PPP) between the two public universities, the Sokoine University of Agriculture
and Norwegian University of Life Sciences, and two international agro-input companies, namely, Yara and Syngenta. The PPP aimed at conducting research and demonstrating how to achieve sustainable agricultural intensification under smallholder
maize and rice farmers through effective plant nutrient management and protection
for increasing crop productivity whilst preserving the environment. The paper
E. J. Mtengeti et al.