Weed management in maize/beans cropping systems in medium altitude areas of Kenya: farmers practice
1999
Gethi, M. | Murithi, F.M. | Macharia, C.N. (Embu Regional Research Cetre, Embu (Kenya))
Weed management is a critical constraint in the cropping systems of the medium altitude areas of Kenya. These areas experience an annual rainfall of between 800 mm and 1200 mm in a bimodal pattern. A detailed survey was conducted under CIMMYT maize data project with the intention of building a detailed information on farmers practices on weed management. The survey was conducted as a prelude to developing technologies that are relevant to the farmer needs. Farmers from different Agroecological zones (AEZs) were requested to prioritize crop protection problems they usually encounter in maize /beans cropping system. Weed problem was ranked second amongst all other crop protection problems. Majority of the farmers (66%) in all the AEZs weeded their maize twice in each of the two cropping season. Manual weeding using a hand hoe was the most common being practiced by most of the farmers. Only 1.7% of all the farmers interviewed used herbicides. Weeding frequency was the same in the two cropping patterns (sole or mixed cropping). The paper also highlights the most common weeds found in the region.
显示更多 [+] 显示较少 [-]