Show simple item record

Unanswered questions and unquestioned answers: the challenges of crop residue retention and weed control in conservation agriculture systems of southern Africa

dc.contributor.authorThierfelder, C.
dc.contributor.authorMhlanga, B.
dc.contributor.authorNgoma, H.
dc.contributor.authorMarenya, P.
dc.contributor.authorMatin, A.
dc.contributor.authorHirpa Tufa, A.
dc.contributor.authorAlene, A.
dc.contributor.authorChikoye, D.
dc.date.accessioned2024-09-13T09:47:26Z
dc.date.available2024-09-13T09:47:26Z
dc.date.issued2024-02-22
dc.identifier.citationThierfelder, C., Mhlanga, B., Ngoma, H., Marenya, P., Matin, A., Tufa, A., ... & Chikoye, D. (2024). Unanswered questions and unquestioned answers: the challenges of crop residue retention and weed control in conservation agriculture systems of southern Africa. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, 39: e7, 1-16.
dc.identifier.issn1742-1705
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12478/8537
dc.description.abstractProduction and utilization of crop residues as mulch and effective weed management are two central elements in the successful implementation of Conservation Agriculture (CA) systems in southern Africa. Yet, the challenges of crop residue availability for mulch or the difficulties in managing weed proliferation in CA systems are bigger than a micro-level focus on weeds and crop residues themselves. The bottlenecks are symptoms of broader systemic complications that cannot be resolved without appreciating the interactions between the current scientific understanding of CA and its application in smallholder systems, private incentives, social norms, institutions, and government policy. In this paper, we elucidate a series of areas that represent some unquestioned answers about chemical weed control and unanswered questions about how to maintain groundcover demanding more research along the natural and social sciences continuum. In some communities, traditional rules that allow free-range grazing of livestock after harvesting present a barrier in surface crop residue management. On the other hand, many of the communities either burn, remove, or incorporate the residues into the soil thus hindering the near-permanent soil cover required in CA systems. The lack of soil cover also means that weed management through soil mulch is unachievable. Herbicides are often a successful stopgap solution to weed control, but they are costly, and most farmers do not use them as recommended, which reduces efficacy. Besides, the use of herbicides can cause environmental hazards and may affect human health. Here, we suggest further assessment of the manipulation of crop competition, the use of vigorously growing cover crops, exploration of allelopathy, and use of microorganisms in managing weeds and reducing seed production to deplete the soil weed seed bank. We also suggest in situ production of plant biomass, use of unpalatable species for mulch generation and change of grazing by-laws towards a holistic management of pastures to reduce the competition for crop residues. However, these depend on the socio-economic status dynamics at farmer and community level.
dc.description.sponsorshipAfrica RISING
dc.description.sponsorshipNORAD
dc.language.isoen
dc.subjectCrop-Livestock Interaction
dc.subjectCrop Residues
dc.subjectZero Tillage
dc.subjectSocial Norms
dc.subjectSustainable Intensification
dc.subjectWeed Control
dc.titleUnanswered questions and unquestioned answers: the challenges of crop residue retention and weed control in conservation agriculture systems of southern Africa
dc.typeJournal Article
cg.contributor.crpAgriculture for Nutrition and Health
cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Maize and Wheat Improvement Center
cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Institute of Tropical Agriculture
cg.coverage.regionAfrica
cg.coverage.regionSouthern Africa
cg.coverage.countryZambia
cg.coverage.countryZimbabwe
cg.coverage.hubSouthern Africa Hub
cg.coverage.hubHeadquarters and Western Africa Hub
cg.researchthemeSocial Science and Agribusiness
cg.identifier.bibtexciteidTHIERFELDER:2024
cg.isijournalISI Journal
cg.authorship.typesCGIAR and advanced research institute
cg.iitasubjectAgribusiness
cg.iitasubjectAgronomy
cg.iitasubjectFarming Systems
cg.iitasubjectPlant Breeding
cg.iitasubjectPlant Health
cg.iitasubjectPlant Production
cg.journalRenewable Agriculture and Food Systems
cg.accessibilitystatusOpen Access
cg.reviewstatusPeer Review
cg.usagerightslicenseCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 0.0)
cg.targetaudienceScientists
cg.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1017/s1742170523000510
cg.iitaauthor.identifierChristian Thierfelder: 0000-0002-6306-7670
cg.iitaauthor.identifierBlessing Mhlanga: 0000-0003-4587-795X
cg.iitaauthor.identifierHambulo Ngoma: 0000-0002-7050-9625
cg.iitaauthor.identifierPaswel Marenya: 0000-0003-2496-2303
cg.iitaauthor.identifierMd Abdul Matin: 0000-0002-6268-6154
cg.iitaauthor.identifierAdane Tufa: 0000-0001-9801-6526
cg.futureupdate.requiredNo
cg.identifier.issuee7
cg.identifier.volume39


Files in this item

FilesSizeFormatView

There are no files associated with this item.

This item appears in the following Collection(s)

Show simple item record