In-situ soil moisture conservation: utilisation and management of rainwater for crop production

Author

Peter Kathuli and J.K. Itabari

International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology, 2014, vol. 10, issue 3, pages 295-310

Abstract: The salient results of in-situ soil water conservation technologies that have been found suitable for increasing soil moisture in the arid and semi-arid lands of eastern Kenya are reviewed. The results showed that Zai pits, tumbukiza and deep tillage when used together with soil fertility improvement can increase crop yields by 4-10 times in comparison to conventionally cultivated fields. Use of tied-ridging with soil fertility improvement increases crop yields by 100-300%. Sub-soiling and ripping increases crop yields by 50-100% when used with soil fertility improvement. Micro-catchment technology at 1:1 and 2:1 catchment to cultivated land ratio increase crop yields, but is not practised due to land limitation. Use of fertilisers and or manures with in-situ soil moisture conservation leads to improved water use efficiency by crops planted in the semi-arid areas. It was concluded that, in-situ rainwater conservation technologies should be part of the farming systems in the semi-arid lands.

Keywords: rain water harvesting; soil fertility improvement; crop yields; semi-arid regions; Kenya; moisture conservation; rainwater management; water conservation; water use efficiency; farming systems; agriculture. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations Track citations by RSS feed

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=64009 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ids:ijarge:v:10:y:2014:i:3:p:295-310

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology from  Inderscience Enterprises Ltd
Series data maintained by Darren Simpson (informationadministrator4@inderscience.com).

For further details log on website :
http://econpapers.repec.org/article/idsijarge/v_3a10_3ay_3a2014_3ai_3a3_3ap_3a295-310.htm