Comparative assessment of maize,finger millet and sorghum for household food security in the face of increasing climatic risk

Questions as to which crop to grow, where, when and with what management, will be increasingly challenging for farmers in the face of a changing climate. The objective of this study was to evaluate emergence, yield and financial benefits of maize, finger millet and sorghum, planted at different dates and managed with variable soil nutrient inputs in order to develop adaptation options for stabilizing food production and income for smallholder households in the face of climate change and variability. Field experiments with maize, finger millet and sorghum were conducted in farmers’ fields in Makoni and Hwedza districts in eastern Zimbabwe for three seasons: 2009/10, 2010/11 and 2011/12. Three fertilization rates: high (90 kg N ha⁻¹, 26 kg P ha⁻¹, 7 t ha⁻¹ manure), low (35 kg N ha⁻¹, 14 kg P ha⁻¹, 3 t ha⁻¹ manure) and a control (zero fertilization); and three planting dates: early, normal and late, were compared. Crop emergence for the unfertilized finger millet and sorghum was <15% compared with >70% for the fertilized treatments. In contrast, the emergence for maize (a medium-maturity hybrid cultivar, SC635), was >80% regardless of the amount of fertilizer applied. Maize yield was greater than that of finger millet and sorghum, also in the season (2010/11) which had poor rainfall distribution. Maize yielded 5.4 t ha⁻¹ compared with 3.1 t ha⁻¹ for finger millet and 3.3 t ha⁻¹ for sorghum for the early plantings in the 2009/10 rainfall season in Makoni, a site with relatively fertile soils. In the poorer 2010/11 season, early planted maize yielded 2.4 t ha⁻¹, against 1.6 t ha⁻¹ for finger millet and 0.4 t ha⁻¹ for sorghum in Makoni. Similar yield trends were observed on the nutrient-depleted soils in Hwedza, although yields were less than those observed in Makoni. All crops yielded significantly more with increasing rates of fertilization when planting was done early or in what farmers considered the ‘normal window’. Crops planted early or during the normal planting window gave comparable yields that were greater than yields of late-planted crops. Water productivity for each crop planted early or during the normal window increased with increase in the amount of fertilizer applied, but differed between crop type. Maize had the highest water productivity (8.0 kg dry matter mm⁻¹ ha⁻¹) followed by sorghum (4.9 kg mm⁻¹ ha⁻¹) and then finger millet (4.6 kg mm⁻¹ ha⁻¹) when a high fertilizer rate was applied to the early-planted crop. Marginal rates of return for maize production were greater for the high fertilization rate (>50%) than for the low rate (<50%). However, the financial returns for finger millet were more attractive for the low fertilization rate (>100%) than for the high rate (<100%). Although maize yield was greater compared with finger millet, the latter had a higher content of calcium and can be stored for up to five years. The superiority of maize, in terms of yields, over finger millet and sorghum, suggests that the recommendation to substitute maize with small grains may not be a robust option for adaptation to increased temperatures and more frequent droughts likely to be experienced in Zimbabwe and other parts of southern Africa.     

Combining the simulation crop model AquaCrop with an economic model for the optimization of irrigation management at farm level

Water resources used in irrigated agriculture are increasingly scarce, particularly in many countries where irrigation has undergone recent expansion. To optimize the limited resources available, optimization models provide useful tools for technical and economic analyses. One of the key inputs of these models is the yield response to water which is often simulated with empirical water production functions. At present, dynamic crop simulation models, such as AquaCrop (Steduto et al., 2009) offer alternative predictions of crop responses to different irrigation strategies as inputs to economic optimization. A model at farm scale was developed and applied to an area in South-western Spain to assist farmers in pre-season decision making on cropping patterns and on irrigation strategies. Yield predictions were obtained from the AquaCrop model which was validated for four different crops. The model simulated the impact on farm income of: (a) irrigation water constraints; (b) variations in agricultural policies; (c) changes in product and water prices; and, (d) variations in the communication to farmers of the specific level of irrigation water allocation. The applications of the models to the study area showed that currently, the changes in cropping patterns induced by the agricultural policy will encourage water savings more than an increase in water prices. Under water restrictions, the best strategy combines planting of low water use crops in part of the area to release water to grow more profitable crops with greater water needs. The model predicted a strong negative impact on farm income of delaying a decision on the level of seasonal water allocation by the water authority, reaching up to 300 € ha⁻¹ in the case of the study area.     

Integration framework and implementation technologies of integrated workshop production management system for motorcycle parts enterprise

According to the urgent need for motorcycle parts enterprise to improve the ability of information exchange and business collaboration between the production process and other links such as the marketing, design, production planning, outsourcing, purchasing and delivering, an integration framework of the intergraded workshop production management system for motorcycle parts enterprise is presented. It can be integrated with the designing and production planning management systems upwards, the workshop equipments and workers downwards, and the subcontract production and supply chain management systems outwards. Then, some key technologies are studied, such as the realization scheme of system integration based on Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), the data integration and sharing mechanism of heterogeneous information system based on eXtensible Markup Language (XML), and the real-time interaction technology of workshop information based on the multi-functional interactive information terminals, etc. Finally, the system is developed and successfully applied in a motorcycle parts enterprise, and good results are obtained.     

On-farm evaluation of integrated weed management tools for maize production in three different agro-environments in Europe: Agronomic efficacy,herbicide use reduction,and economic sustainability

The development and implementation of integrated weed management (IWM) strategies that provide good weed control while reducing dependence on herbicides, and preferably without having side effects on the overall system economic performance, is still a challenge that has to be met. In 2011 and 2012, nine on-farm experiments (i.e., real field conditions on commercial farms, with natural weed flora) were conducted in three important European maize producing regions-countries, which represent the range of climatic and edaphic conditions in Europe, to evaluate the efficacy of different locally selected IWM tools for direct weed control in maize vs. the conventional approach (CON) followed by the farms. The IWM tools tested were: (1) early post-emergence herbicide band application combined with hoeing followed by a second hoeing in Southern Germany, (2) early post-emergence herbicide broadcast application when indicated by a predictive model of weed emergence after performing one scouting in the field to supply data for the model, followed by hoeing in Northern Italy, and (3) tine harrowing at 2–3rd leaf stage of maize and low dose of post-emergence herbicide in Slovenia. Results showed that the IWM tools tested in the different countries: (1) provided sufficient weed control without any significant differences in yields, (2) greatly reduced maize reliance on herbicides, and (3) IWM implementation was economically sustainable as no significant differences in gross margin were observed in any country compared to CON.