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African Crop Science Journal
African Crop Science Society
ISSN: 1021-9730
EISSN: 1021-9730
Vol. 5, No. 4, 1997, pp. 359-369
Bioline Code: cs97042
Full paper language: English
Document type: Research Article
Document available free of charge

African Crop Science Journal, Vol. 5, No. 4, 1997, pp. 359-369

 en On-farm evaluation of an animal-drawn implement developed in Ethiopia for row placement of wheat seed and basal fertiliser
Taa, Asefa; Tanner, D.G.; Temesgen, Melesse & Girma, Kefyalew

Abstract

Grass weeds are difficult to control by hand weeding in a broadcast wheat crop because several species are not easily distinguished from the crop at an early stage. Chemical weed control, on the other hand, can be highly effective, but is limited in Ethiopia by the unavailability and high cost of herbicides. Further, dependence on high efficacy herbicides to control grass weeds can result in weed species shifts and/or the development of resistant weed biotypes. Row sowing of wheat can facilitate hand and/or mechanical weeding by enabling farmers to identify grass weeds in the inter-row spaces. However, manual row seeding is extremely labour intensive and unacceptable to peasant farmers in Ethiopia. Row seeders developed elsewhere have not been accepted in Ethiopia because they were either too labour inefficient or ineffective in cloddy and rough fields. Therefore, a four-row seeder has been developed in Ethiopia with a new type of seed metering mechanism. Field tests have shown that the row seeder can work effectively in fields prepared by ox plough. The row seeder is labour efficient, requiring less than 25% of the time per unit area compared to the farmers' conventional practice of broadcasting seed and fertilizer and covering by ox plough. The seeder also facilitates placement of seed and fertilizer together in the row, enabling the crop to utilise fertiliser more effectively and limiting the nutrients available to weeds emerging between crop rows. In one season, use of the row seeder increased wheat grain yield by 28% in comparison to the conventional broadcasting. The row seeder used in conjunction with an inter-row weeder was the most profitable package tested on farmers' fields in 1995 and 1996, representing a sustainable production technology for peasant wheat farmers in Ethiopia.

Keywords
Animal traction, on-farm research, seeder, sowing, weed control, wheat

 
 fr
Taa, Asefa; Tanner, D.G.; Temesgen, Melesse & Girma, Kefyalew

Résumé

Les mauvaises herbes sont difficiles a controler par desherbage manuel dans un champ de ble seme a la volee, car plusieurs d'entre elles ne sont pas facilement differenciables de la culture a un stade precoce. Par contre, le desherbage chimique peut etre tres efficace. Neanmoins, il est restreint en Ethiopie par l'indisponibilite et le cout eleve des herbicides. De plus, dependre d'herbicides tres efficaces pour le controle des mauvaises herbes peut entrainer un changement dans la frequence des especes adventices et/ou le developpement de biotypes de mauvaises herbes resistants. Le semis en rangs du ble peut faciliter le desherbage manuel et/ou mecanique en permettant au cultivateur d'identifier les mauvaises herbes dans les espaces entre rangs. Cependant, le semis manuel en rangs est extremement laborieux et inacceptable par les paysans fermiers d'Ethiopie. Les semoirs a rangs mis au point ailleurs, n'ont pas ete adoptes en Ethiopie parce qu'ils etaient soit inefficaces au travail, soit ineffectifs dans les champs a mottes ou accidentes. Par consequent, un semoir a 4 rangs avec un nouveau type de mecanisme de comptage de graine, a ete mis au point en Ethiopie. Des essais au champ ont montre que ce semoir a rangs peut fonctionner efficacement dans des champs prepares a la charrue a boeufs. Le semoir a rangs travaille efficacement, necessite moins de 25% du temps par unite de terrain par rapport aux pratiques conventionnelles du cultivateur, qui consistent a semer a la volee, a fertiliser et a couvrir avec la charrue a boeuf. Le semoir facilite egalement la mise en place de la graine et de l'engrais ensemble dans le rang, permettant a la culture d'utiliser plus efficacement l'engrais et de restreindre les substances nutritives disponibles aux mauvaises herbes emergeant entre les rangs. L'utilisation du semoir a rangs durant une saison a augmente les rendements en grains du ble de 28% par rapport au semis a la volee conventionnel. Le semoir a rangs utilise conjointement a un sarcloir entre les rangs etait la strategie la plus avantageuse testee chez le cultivateur en 1995 et 1996, representant une technologie de production durable pour les paysans cerealiculteurs d'Ethiopie.

Mots Clés
Ble, desherbage, recherche en exploitation, semis, semoir, traction animale

 
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