Unanswered questions and unquestioned answers: the challenges of crop residue retention and weed control in Conservation Agriculture systems of southern Africa
Production 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 pr...
| Autores principales: | , , , , , , , |
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| Formato: | Journal Article |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
Cambridge University Press
2024
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/139660 |
| _version_ | 1855534081957167104 |
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| author | Thierfelder, Christian Mhlanga, Blessing Ngoma, Hambulo Marenya, Paswel Md Abdul Matin Tufa, Adane H. Alene, Arega D. Chikoye, David |
| author_browse | Alene, Arega D. Chikoye, David Marenya, Paswel Md Abdul Matin Mhlanga, Blessing Ngoma, Hambulo Thierfelder, Christian Tufa, Adane H. |
| author_facet | Thierfelder, Christian Mhlanga, Blessing Ngoma, Hambulo Marenya, Paswel Md Abdul Matin Tufa, Adane H. Alene, Arega D. Chikoye, David |
| author_sort | Thierfelder, Christian |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Production 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. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace139660 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publishDateRange | 2024 |
| publishDateSort | 2024 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| publisherStr | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1396602025-12-08T10:11:39Z Unanswered questions and unquestioned answers: the challenges of crop residue retention and weed control in Conservation Agriculture systems of southern Africa Thierfelder, Christian Mhlanga, Blessing Ngoma, Hambulo Marenya, Paswel Md Abdul Matin Tufa, Adane H. Alene, Arega D. Chikoye, David integrated crop-livestock systems crop residues zero tillage social norms sustainable intensification weed control Production 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. 2024 2024-02-26T14:19:55Z 2024-02-26T14:19:55Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/139660 en Open Access application/pdf Cambridge University Press Thierfelder, C., Mhlanga, B., Ngoma, H., Marenya, P., Matin, A., Tufa, A., Alene, 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. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1742170523000510 |
| spellingShingle | integrated crop-livestock systems crop residues zero tillage social norms sustainable intensification weed control Thierfelder, Christian Mhlanga, Blessing Ngoma, Hambulo Marenya, Paswel Md Abdul Matin Tufa, Adane H. Alene, Arega D. Chikoye, David Unanswered questions and unquestioned answers: the challenges of crop residue retention and weed control in Conservation Agriculture systems of southern Africa |
| title | Unanswered questions and unquestioned answers: the challenges of crop residue retention and weed control in Conservation Agriculture systems of southern Africa |
| title_full | Unanswered questions and unquestioned answers: the challenges of crop residue retention and weed control in Conservation Agriculture systems of southern Africa |
| title_fullStr | Unanswered questions and unquestioned answers: the challenges of crop residue retention and weed control in Conservation Agriculture systems of southern Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Unanswered questions and unquestioned answers: the challenges of crop residue retention and weed control in Conservation Agriculture systems of southern Africa |
| title_short | Unanswered questions and unquestioned answers: the challenges of crop residue retention and weed control in Conservation Agriculture systems of southern Africa |
| title_sort | unanswered questions and unquestioned answers the challenges of crop residue retention and weed control in conservation agriculture systems of southern africa |
| topic | integrated crop-livestock systems crop residues zero tillage social norms sustainable intensification weed control |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/139660 |
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