Forage production for smallholder farmers in a rainfed millet cropping system in central Mali

A shortage of available labour early in the growing season, when effort is directed to the weeding of cereal crops, appeared to be a primary constraint to increased forage cropping by smallholder farmers in the semi-arid zone of central Mali. In experiments with millet, the labour requirement for we...

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Main Authors: Bartholomew, P.W., Ly, R., Koné, D., Traoré, S.F., Sissoko, K.
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Cambridge University Press 1992
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/28568
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author Bartholomew, P.W.
Ly, R.
Koné, D.
Traoré, S.F.
Sissoko, K.
author_browse Bartholomew, P.W.
Koné, D.
Ly, R.
Sissoko, K.
Traoré, S.F.
author_facet Bartholomew, P.W.
Ly, R.
Koné, D.
Traoré, S.F.
Sissoko, K.
author_sort Bartholomew, P.W.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description A shortage of available labour early in the growing season, when effort is directed to the weeding of cereal crops, appeared to be a primary constraint to increased forage cropping by smallholder farmers in the semi-arid zone of central Mali. In experiments with millet, the labour requirement for weeding was reduced by an average of 45 percent when the crop was weeded at two rather than four weeks after emergence. A combination of weeding by hand and by ox-drawn plough or harrow only slightly increased labour productivity compared with hand weeding alone. Both lablab and cowpea produced good yields of forage when sown in mid-July, but average yield declined by 71 kg ha-1 for each day's delay in sowing between mid-July and mid-August. Green gram was also productive over a two month growing period and appeared to have potential as a late-sown forage crop.
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publishDate 1992
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spelling CGSpace285682024-11-15T08:52:14Z Forage production for smallholder farmers in a rainfed millet cropping system in central Mali Bartholomew, P.W. Ly, R. Koné, D. Traoré, S.F. Sissoko, K. feed crops small farms cropping systems millets rainfed farming A shortage of available labour early in the growing season, when effort is directed to the weeding of cereal crops, appeared to be a primary constraint to increased forage cropping by smallholder farmers in the semi-arid zone of central Mali. In experiments with millet, the labour requirement for weeding was reduced by an average of 45 percent when the crop was weeded at two rather than four weeks after emergence. A combination of weeding by hand and by ox-drawn plough or harrow only slightly increased labour productivity compared with hand weeding alone. Both lablab and cowpea produced good yields of forage when sown in mid-July, but average yield declined by 71 kg ha-1 for each day's delay in sowing between mid-July and mid-August. Green gram was also productive over a two month growing period and appeared to have potential as a late-sown forage crop. 1992-10 2013-05-06T07:00:53Z 2013-05-06T07:00:53Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/28568 en Limited Access Cambridge University Press Experimental Agriculture;28(4): 425-432
spellingShingle feed crops
small farms
cropping systems
millets
rainfed farming
Bartholomew, P.W.
Ly, R.
Koné, D.
Traoré, S.F.
Sissoko, K.
Forage production for smallholder farmers in a rainfed millet cropping system in central Mali
title Forage production for smallholder farmers in a rainfed millet cropping system in central Mali
title_full Forage production for smallholder farmers in a rainfed millet cropping system in central Mali
title_fullStr Forage production for smallholder farmers in a rainfed millet cropping system in central Mali
title_full_unstemmed Forage production for smallholder farmers in a rainfed millet cropping system in central Mali
title_short Forage production for smallholder farmers in a rainfed millet cropping system in central Mali
title_sort forage production for smallholder farmers in a rainfed millet cropping system in central mali
topic feed crops
small farms
cropping systems
millets
rainfed farming
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/28568
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