133
presents part of the results of the PPP implementation, dealing with investigating the
effects of improved plant nutrition on the productivity and chemical composition of
whole maize stover and rice straw in the Njombe, Mvomero and Kilombero districts.
For another aspect of the study, we refer to Mtengeti et al. (2015, 2016).
2 Materials and Methods
2.1 Study Sites and Crops
We established maize crop trials at one smallholder farm in each of four villages in
Njombe district, southern highlands of Tanzania (Table 1). The area is under unimodal rainfall type starting from November to April. The annual amount of rainfall
is 1000–2000 mm, and temperature ranges from 22 °C to 30 °C maximum and
15 °C to 20 °C minimum. Soils in Njombe are generally highly weathered, infertile
and acidic with high phosphorus fixation and low organic matter content (Mtengeti
et al. 2015).
We carried out the rice trials in Mvomero and Kilombero districts in Morogoro
region. Average annual rainfall is 1000 mm and temperature ranges from 24 °C to
32 °C. Mvomero and Kilombero district rice-growing areas are floodplains of Wami
and Ruaha rivers, respectively, and have vertisols, fluvisols and complex vertisols
and fluvisols (Msanya et al. 2003).
2.2 Treatments
We conducted the study for 4 consecutive years to investigate the influence of
improved plant nutrition on the productivity and chemical composition of maize stover and rice straw. One farmer in each village participated in having two treatments,
namely, the farmers’ practice (FP) and Yara/SUA/Syngenta (YSS), as improved agricultural practices (Tables 2 and 3). Maize trials were planted at the beginning of the
long rainy season in December at a spacing of 90 cm by 30 cm and harvested in July.
Table 1 Location of the study sites
Region
District
Villages
Crop established
Altitude (masl)
MOROGORO
In eastern
Agricultural zone
Mvomero
Dihombo
Rice
370
Dakawa
Rice
566
Kilombero
Mkula
Rice
290
NJOMBE
In southern
Highlands
Agricultural zone
Njombe
Ibumila
Maize
1820
Matiganjola
Maize
1791
Welela
Maize
1793
Kichiwa
Maize
1798
Productivity and Chemical Composition of Maize Stover and Rice Straw Under…
presents part of the results of the PPP implementation, dealing with investigating the
effects of improved plant nutrition on the productivity and chemical composition of
whole maize stover and rice straw in the Njombe, Mvomero and Kilombero districts.
For another aspect of the study, we refer to Mtengeti et al. (2015, 2016).
2 Materials and Methods
2.1 Study Sites and Crops
We established maize crop trials at one smallholder farm in each of four villages in
Njombe district, southern highlands of Tanzania (Table 1). The area is under unimodal rainfall type starting from November to April. The annual amount of rainfall
is 1000–2000 mm, and temperature ranges from 22 °C to 30 °C maximum and
15 °C to 20 °C minimum. Soils in Njombe are generally highly weathered, infertile
and acidic with high phosphorus fixation and low organic matter content (Mtengeti
et al. 2015).
We carried out the rice trials in Mvomero and Kilombero districts in Morogoro
region. Average annual rainfall is 1000 mm and temperature ranges from 24 °C to
32 °C. Mvomero and Kilombero district rice-growing areas are floodplains of Wami
and Ruaha rivers, respectively, and have vertisols, fluvisols and complex vertisols
and fluvisols (Msanya et al. 2003).
2.2 Treatments
We conducted the study for 4 consecutive years to investigate the influence of
improved plant nutrition on the productivity and chemical composition of maize stover and rice straw. One farmer in each village participated in having two treatments,
namely, the farmers’ practice (FP) and Yara/SUA/Syngenta (YSS), as improved agricultural practices (Tables 2 and 3). Maize trials were planted at the beginning of the
long rainy season in December at a spacing of 90 cm by 30 cm and harvested in July.
Table 1 Location of the study sites
Region
District
Villages
Crop established
Altitude (masl)
MOROGORO
In eastern
Agricultural zone
Mvomero
Dihombo
Rice
370
Dakawa
Rice
566
Kilombero
Mkula
Rice
290
NJOMBE
In southern
Highlands
Agricultural zone
Njombe
Ibumila
Maize
1820
Matiganjola
Maize
1791
Welela
Maize
1793
Kichiwa
Maize
1798
Productivity and Chemical Composition of Maize Stover and Rice Straw Under…