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Conservation of soil moisture through tillage
practices is an important management objective for
crop production in semi-arid areas. A study to
evaluate the effects of tillage practices on maize and
bean yields was conducted in Mwala Sub County,
Eastern Kenya, in the long (LR) and short rains (SR)
of 2012/13. The tillage treatments were: Disc
Ploughing (DP), Disc Ploughing and Harrowing
(DPH), Ox-ploughing (OX), Subsoiling – Ripping
(SSR), Hand hoeing with Tied Ridges (HTR) and
Hand hoeing (H) only. There were three cropping
systems of Sole Maize (SM), Sole Bean (SB) and
Maize - Bean intercrop (M + B), which were
investigated in a Split-Plot Design field experiment
with four replications. Data on maize and bean yield
and yield components were monitored throughout the
four cropping seasons. Maize plant height, leaf area
and leaf area index, maize and beans grain and
biomass yields were significantly affected by tillage
(P < 0.05). No significant effect of cropping systems
on the maize height was observed. Higher maize
grain yields (P < 0.05) were obtained in the sole
maize plots in LR 2012 (5.01 Mg ha -1 ), SR 2012
(4.19 Mg ha -1 ) and in the SR 2013 season (2.82 Mg
ha -1 ). A three - season bean grain yield average by
tillage shows that DPH > SSR > DP > OX > HTR >
H, with values ranging from 0.75 Mg ha -1 to 1.46 Mg
ha -1 (P < 0.05). Intercropping reduced the seasonal
means of bean grain yields (P < 0.05) with a 54 %
decrease by intercropping (0.73 Mg ha -1 ) compared to
the sole bean (1.6 Mg ha -1 ). Thus, the DP and DPH improved crop yield and yield components and can be
recommended as tillage practices in the semi-arid
region. |
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