Adapting yet not adopting? Conservation agriculture in Central Malawi
Adapting yet not adopting? Conservation agriculture in Central Malawi
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DOI：
10.1016/j.agee.2020.107224
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发表时间：
2021-02-28
影响因子：
6.6
通讯作者：
Giller, K. E.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Bouwman, T. I.;Andersson, J. A.;Giller, K. E.
保护性农业（CA）作为撒哈拉以南非洲（SSA）可持续集约化农业的一条途径已得到广泛推广。然而，尽管经过数十年的推广，SSA的碳吸收仍然很少，对其对农业和农村生计的影响的分析也很少。这项研究的重点是马拉维中部被认为具有相对较高的CA吸收率的地区，它使用卫星图像分析、实地观察、与农民、推广人员和其他参与CA推广的人员的访谈以及家庭调查来调查如何适应CA。我们发现三个CA原则(1)连续最小耕作，例如免垄；（2)永久土地覆盖；(3)作物轮作/间作）没有按预期实施。首先，在生长季节耕作1 / 3的无垄地，并在下一季节再次耕作1 / 3的无垄地。其次，除非添加作物残留物，否则在种植时，无垄地的土壤表面通常是光秃秃的，这会造成杂草控制问题，并增加侵蚀的风险。大多数农民在他们的非垄地中添加了大量的作物残茬。他们从周围的田地里收集这些，但这种做法严重限制了这些地块的大小。第三，农民停止耕作后，轮作/间作减少。因此，总的来说，很少有农民同时实践所有三个CA原则。CA推广似乎只在添加了地膜的地块上增加产量，但这种做法不可扩展。推广农作似乎并没有为整体农业生产力、节约劳动力或保护土壤提供实质性的好处。
Conservation Agriculture (CA) has been widely promoted as a pathw a y to sustainably intensi f y agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Yet despite decades of promotion, CA uptake in SSA remains sparse with only few analyses of its impacts on farming and rural livelihoods. This study, which focuses on areas in Central Malawi considered to have a relatively high uptake of CA , uses analyses of satellite images, field observations, interviews with farmers, extension workers and other people involved in CA promotion, as wel l as a household survey, to investigate how CA has been adapted. We find that the three CA principles - (1) continuous minimu m tillage, e.g. no-ridging, (2) permanent ground cover, and (3) crop rotation/intercropping - were not practiced as intended. First, one-thi r d of non-ridged land was tilled during the growing season, and ha l f was again ridged in the following season. Second, unless crop residues were added, the soil's surface of non-ridged plots was usually bare at planting, causing weed control problems, and an increased risk of erosion. Most farmers added large volumes of crop residues to their non-ridged plots. They collected these from the surrounding fields, but this practice severely restricted the size of these plots. Third, crop rotation/intercropping was practiced less when farmers stopped ridging. Thus overall, very few farmers practised a l l of the three CA principles simultaneously. CA promotion appeared to only increase yields on plots where mulch was added, but this practice is not scalable. CA promotiondoes not seem to have provided substantial benefits for overa l l farm productivity, labour-savings or soi l conservation.