Increasing the profitability of Legume production in
Mozambique through Technology discovery,
Development and Delivery linked to Markets
Progress for 2009-2010 season
The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)
Introduction
 Although total agricultural
production has increased
significantly over the past decade, in
Mozambique, it is mainly through an
expansion of the area farmed rather
than from increased agricultural
productivity
 Use of improved seeds (Fig. 1) and
fertilizer is well below that of
neighboring countries and as a
result labor productivity remains low
30%
saved seed
45%
ICRISAT
retail stores
friends & family
3%
20%
others
2%
Figure 1: Survey of sources of seed for smallholder
farmers in Mozambique, 2007 (USAID-funded
Chinyanja Triangle project)
Introduction Continued….
 Sustained investment in agricultural research is therefore
needed in order for Mozambique to exploit its agricultural
potential to the full in the long term
 Identification of “bottle-necks” in the technology
development and delivery necessary for the legume value
chain
 Climate variability presents challenges to enhanced
productivity of crops produced in marginal environments –
development of mitigation strategies is necessary
Objectives of this Project

Main objective - to identify production recommendations
that address issues related to:


Climate variability and Value Chains for Pigeonpea and
Groundnuts
The specific objectives are :


To develop crop management options to improve productivity
of Pigeonpea and product quality; and mitigate the effects of
climate induced risk – especially rainfall
To improve farmer incomes
Pigeonpea Ecologies
Summary of Planned Year 1 Activities
Result
Activities
1
- Assemble and analyze long-term daily
climatic data and develop soil fertility
management options for legume
intercropping systems through crop
simulation modeling
-
Collection of long-term daily climate data (30
years +) from main meteorological weather
stations, and soils survey information
-
Design and undertake a survey of ‘volunteer’ rainfall
stations (large estates, district offices, schools and
churches)
Activities by results continued….
Result
1
Activities
- Validate MARKSIM (a spatial weather
generator) for parts of the project area for
which no climate data exists
- Improve the quality of long-term climatic
data through infilling missing values for
temperature and rainfall and generating
solar radiation
- Improve the quality of long-term climatic
data through infilling missing values for
temperature and rainfall and generating
solar radiation information
Activities by results continued….
Result
Activities
1
-
Undertake simple multi-location trials (onstation and in farmers’ fields) for
groundnut and pigeonpea for the local
calibration of the Australian developed,
weather driven crop growth simulation
model (Agricultural Production Systems
Simulator, APSIM)
- Use APSIM to identify legume interventions
that have a high probability of production
and economic success in the context of
climate and soils variability
Activities by results continued….
Result
Activities
1
- Develop suitable micro-dosing options for increasing legume
productivity in legume-based cropping systems
- Combine the outputs above with relevant socio-economic
parameters (using GIS) to determine targeted
recommendation domains for legume diversification
strategies.
Progress on activities
Activity I:
- Assemble and analyze long term daily climatic data and
develop soil fertility management options for legume
intercropping systems through crop simulation modeling
sub-activity 5: “Undertaking simple multi-location trials (on-station and
in farmers’ fields) for pigeonpea for the local calibration of the Australiandeveloped, weather driven crop growth model (Agricultural Production
Systems Simulator, APSIM)
sub-activity 7: Development of suitable micro-dosing options for
increasing legume productivity in legume based cropping systems
On-station
Trials - Activity I
Evaluation of Long and
Medium duration Pigeonpea
varieties
PAN;
- 22 Long duration varieties at
- 22 Medium duration varieties at
Casa Agraria and Mtengo Umodzi in
Angonia
Temporal and Spatial
variability Trials
- Time of planting and row/
ridge spacing
- Incuded two varieties – Long
and Medium duration
Design of Trials
 A Split-Split plot design with 3 replications (blocks)
 Row spacing (R) comprised the main plots as follows:
R1 = 75 cm
R2 = 90 cm
R3 = 120 cm
 Planting time (T), comprised the sub plots
Early planting T1 =
to be planted with first good rains
Late planting T2 =
to be planted two weeks after T1
 Varieties (V), comprised the sub-sub plots
Long duration variety V1 = (ICEAP 00040)
Medium duration variety V2 = (ICEAP 00557)
Pigeonpea Intercropping Trials
 Pure stand of variety ICEAP 00040 (Long duration),
 pure stand of ICEAP 000557 (medium duration type),
 intercrop of ICEAP00040 with Maize, Cassava and
Sorghum
 intercrop of 00557 with Maize, Cassava and Sorghum
The Design was a Completely Randomized Block design with
8 treatments in Nampula
At Casa Agraria (Angonia), the intercropping was only with
Maize and Sorghum – (cassava is not commonly
intercropped with pigeonpea in this region)
Pigeonpea Micro-dosing Trials
Pigeonpea fixes nitrogen through nodulation; but, the N-fixation process
requires Phosphorous (P)
A starter dose of P containing fertilizer is essential for nodulation in soils
deficient in P
A micro-dosing trial was designed to determine the performance of pigeonpea
under P fertilization using different rates of P.
The Trial
Two pigeonpea varieties (Long and Medium duration types)
 P rates - ranged from 0, 10, 15 and 20 kg P ha -1
 The trial was laid out in a 2 x 4 factorial.
Sites – Nampula (PAN), Angonia (Mtengo Umodzi)
On-Farm Trials


The long duration variety trials were
conducted in Nampula, Zambezia
and Angonia (Mussacama)

Nampula and Zambezia - ICP
9145, Farmers’ Local, ICEAP
00557, ICEAP 00040 and ICEAP
00020

Angonia - ICEAP 00926, ICEAP
0076-1, ICEAP 00040 and ICEAP
00020
The medium duration variety trials
were conducted only in Angonia
 Six varieties tested in the short
duration trial included ICEAP
01514/15, ICEAP 01480/32, ICEAP
01162/21, ICEAP 01167/11, ICEAP
00557 and Mthawajuni
On-farm trial sites
Table 1: Sites for the on-farm trials and number of Farmers
Province/
District
Nampula
Zambezia
Tete
Total
District
Total Number
of Trials
Number of
Farmers
Mutuali
4
4
Malema
4
4
Alto-Molocue
4
4
Gurue
4
4
Milange
4
4
Angonia
12
10
32
30
Results: On-station Trials
Results: On-station Trials
Results: On-farm trials
Table 2: Performance of improved pigeonpea varieties on
farmer’s field in Gurue
Variety
ICEAP 00020
ICEAP 00040
ICEAP 00557
ICP
9145
Mean
S.E
CV %
Grain yield
(kg/ha)
Seed size (g)
793
754
820
1080
18.6
19.0
15.6
15.3
862
106.5
12.40
17.1
0.7
4.40
Farmer Participatory
Variety Evaluation
Farmers’ Criteria
Table 3: Participatory Variety Selection: Farmers’ Criteria and
Ranking of Varieties
Plot 1
Variety
Traits
Seed size
(visual)
Earliness
Yield (pod
numbers)
1
ICEAP 00020
3
3
3
2
ICEAP 00040
1
2
1
3
ICEAP 00557
4
1
4
4
Farmers’
Local
5
4
5
5
ICP 9145
2
3
2
Field days and Farmers’ participation
District
Grue
Malema
Location
Attendance
Total
Men
Women
Lioma
19
34
53
Magige
29
9
38
Murrimo
18
8
26
Sub-total
66
51
117
Mtulo
20
29
49
Mutuali
26
29
55
Sub total
46
58
104
Grand Total
112
109
221
Seed Production
Breeder Seed
Production
Basic Seed
Production
OBRIGADO
IIAM (PAN, Mtengo Umodzi) World Vision Gurue, Farmers
Year 2 Work Plan
 Collection of Climatic Data in Collaboration with Met
Department and University of Reading
 Continuation of Crop Management Technologies in
On-Station and On-Farm Trials
 Climatic Risk Modelling – collaborate with
ProSAVANNA project
 Provide Data to IIAM to start the Technology
Release procedures
 Support USEBA with Seed Production of existing
and new varieties to be released