Improvement of Manure Management for Crop Production in Central Uganda
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Date
2010
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Journal of Sustainable Agriculture
Abstract
Manure management practices in sub-Saharan Africa vary
depending on the importance smallholder farmers attach to its
use as a soil amendment. Cattle manure, which is the primary
on-farm manure resource, is generally of low quality due to poor
manure management practices. The objective of this study was to
improve cattle manure quality on-farm in terms of plant nutrient
conservation and enhancement. The study involved two cattle
management systems, namely intensive (IS) and semi-intensive
(SEI). The study involved eight smallholder farms selected through
purposely random sampling and were treated as replicates. The
farms were located in Lukwanga parish, Wakiso district, Central
Uganda. Each farm under the IS had an average of two heads of
mainly Friesian breed of cattle whereas those under the SEI system
had an average of three heads of local breed cattle. Other
variables include seasonal changes and manure management
practices (including farmers practice and improved management
practices). Composted manure from both practices was applied at
rates of 0 and 2.5 t ha−1 in a field experiment conducted on the
same eight smallholder farms as replicates to evaluate performance
using Longe 1 maize as the test crop. Cattle manure quality was
significantly (p < 0.05) superior during the wet season to that
of the dry season in terms of total organic carbon (OC), nitrogen
(N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K+). In both seasons, the
IS manure quality was consistently higher (p < 0.05) than that
of SEI irrespective of the season. Furthermore, the IS generated
more manure (p < 0.05) per cattle unit than its SEI counterpart irrespective of the season. The manure from improved management
practices, which involved collection of cattle dung every day
and heaping it under the shade of a tree until enough material
accumulated to enable its preparation for crops, performed considerably
better (p < 0.05) than the farmers’ manure management
practice in terms of cattle manure quality. Under the IS and SEI,
the improved manure management practice was greater by 48%
and 55%; 36% and 21%; 42% and 52%; 67% and 44% for total
OC, total N, total P, and total K+, respectively. Improved manure
management practices increased maize grain yields significantly
by (p < 0.05) by 10% and 18%, respectively, compared with that
generated from farmer’s manure management practice under IS
and SEI. A similar trend was noted for maize dry matter yields
from improved cattle manure applied at rates of 2.5 t ha−1 under
both cattle management systems, hence a significant (p < 0.05)
increase of 50% and 44% above the control treatment (no manure
application) under IS and SEI, respectively.
Description
Keywords
Cattle manure, Intensive and Semi-intensive cattle management, Manure management
Citation
Zake, J., Tenywa, J. S., & Kabi, F. (2010). Improvement of manure management for crop production in central Uganda. Journal of Sustainable Agriculture, 34(6), 595-617. DOI: 10.1080/10440046.2010.493368