• Contact Us
    • Send Feedback
    • Login
    View Item 
    •   Home
    • Journal and Journal Articles
    • Journal and Journal Articles
    • View Item
    •   Home
    • Journal and Journal Articles
    • Journal and Journal Articles
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Browse

    Whole Repository
    CollectionsIssue DateRegionCountryHubAffiliationAuthorsTitlesSubject
    This Sub-collection
    Issue DateRegionCountryHubAffiliationAuthorsTitlesSubject

    My Account

    Login

    Welcome to the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture Research Repository

    What would you like to view today?

    Evaluating coffee yield gaps and important biotic, abiotic, and management factors limiting coffee production in Uganda

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    S15ArtWangEvaluatingInthomDev.pdf (1.051Mb)
    Date
    2015
    Author
    Wang, N.
    Jassogne, Laurence T.P.
    Asten, Piet J.A. van
    Mukasa, D.
    Wanyama, I.
    Kagezi, G.
    Giller, Ken E.
    Type
    Journal Article
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract/Description
    tCoffee is Uganda’s biggest export commodity, produced mainly by an estimated one million smallholderfarmers (<2.5 ha). Arabica (Coffea arabica L.) and Robusta (Coffea canephora Pierre ex Froehn.) are thetwo coffee species grown. Robusta is dominantly cultivated at lower elevations (<1400 m) such as inCentral and Northern Uganda and Arabica is dominant at higher elevations (>1400 m) such as Eastern,Southwest, and Northwest Uganda. Actual yields are far below (<30%) potential due to various biotic, abi-otic, and management constraints. Yet, there is no quantitative information on site-specific productionconstraints and the yield gaps attributed to those constraints. In this study, yields and diverse produc-tion factors were monitored in 254 plots of five major coffee growing regions (i.e., Central, North, East,Southwest, and Northwest). Boundary line analysis was applied to evaluate the relative importance ofthe individual production factors in limiting coffee production and to quantify the associated yield gapsat regional level. The impacts of rainfall variation on coffee yield were evaluated separately by regressionanalysis. The results of boundary line analysis indicated that biotic constraints (coffee twig borer) andpoor management practices (unproductive coffee trees and low coffee plant density) restricted Robustaproduction in the Central region; poor soil nutrient status (especially potassium) and lack of mulchingwere the causes of yield loss of Robusta grown in the Northern region. For Arabica, unfavorable soilproperties (high soil pH and phosphorus concentration) and excessive number of shade trees were themost important constraints in the East; high soil magnesium concentration and poor mulching limitedcoffee yield in the Southwest; poor soil nutrient status (especially phosphorus and potassium) and lowcoffee plant density were the important yield limitations in the Northwest. Average explained yieldgaps of individual coffee plot due to the most important production constraints were 45%, 52%, 57%,49%, and 50% of attainable yield, respectively, in the Central, Northern, Eastern, Southwest, and North-west regions. Considerably less annual precipitation was received in 2009/2010 coffee growing seasoncompared with that in the previous three years (2006–2008). Seasonal rainfall shortage occurred in theSouthwest was a significant limitation to Arabica production, while excessive rainfall across the wholegrowing season was associated with yield reduction in the Eastern and Northwest regions. We concludethat there was a large yield gap for both Robusta and Arabica coffee grown in Uganda. Boundary lineanalysis allows the evaluation of relative importance of individual production constraint directly in theplot. The important production constraints varied strongly depending on the regions, which calls forsite-specific management implementations. Soil fertility can be improved by implementing integratedsoil fertility management (ISFM) that makes use of nutrients from the soil, recycled crop residues, mulchand chemical fertilizers. Attentions should also be given to other management practices such as coffeeplant density, unproductive coffee trees and shade trees etc.
    https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eja.2014.11.003
    Multi standard citation
    Permanent link to this item
    https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12478/896
    Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
    https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eja.2014.11.003
    Agrovoc Terms
    Plant Density; Mulching; Soil Fertility
    Regions
    Africa South Of Sahara
    Countries
    Uganda
    Journals
    European Journal of Agronomy
    Collections
    • Journal and Journal Articles4842
    copyright © 2019  IITASpace. All rights reserved.
    IITA | Open Access Repository