African Journal of
Agricultural Research

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Agric. Res.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1991-637X
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJAR
  • Start Year: 2006
  • Published Articles: 6934

Full Length Research Paper

Farmer evaluation of phosphorus fertilizer application to annual legumes in Chisepo, Central Malawi

B. C. G. Kamanga1*, A. Whitbread2, P. Wall3, S. R. Waddington3, C. Almekinders4 and K. E. Giller5
1Bunda College of Agriculture, P.O. Box 219, Lilongwe, Malawi. 2CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, P. M. B. 2, Glen Osmond 5064, Australia. 3CIMMYT, P.O. Box MP163, Mt. Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe. 4Department of Social Science, Wageningen University, P. O. Box 430, 6700 AT Wageningen, Netherlands. 5Plant Production Systems, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 430, 6700 AT Wageningen, Netherlands.
Email: [email protected], [email protected]

  •  Accepted: 15 March 2010
  •  Published: 18 April 2010

Abstract

Building from the perception that farmers have an intimate knowledge of their local environment, production problems, crop priorities and criteria for evaluation, an on-farm experiment was conducted with farmers in 2003/4 in Chisepo, central Malawi, to evaluate the response of six annual legumes to phosphorus (P) (20 kg P ha-1 or no P fertilizer) application. The legumes were velvet bean, pigeonpea, soyabean, groundnut, bunch-type cowpea and Bambara groundnut. Twelve farmers hosted the experiments and each farmer formed a group of at least 4 other farmers to evaluate the legumes. Farmer participatory monitoring and evaluation of the legume and P combinations was conducted during the experiment to determine farmer preferences and acceptance of the technology. Measured grain yields, returns to labour and total costs of the P-fertilized legumes were compared with those for the unfertilized legumes. The application of P fertilizer significantly (P = 0.05) increased legume grain yields, particularly with velvet bean, and soyabean. However, use of P was not financially attractive and farmers were not interested to use P at the time. Farmers were more interested to maximize legume food production from their labour investment. Soyabean, groundnut and pigeonpea, grain legumes with high value as food, were considered to be priority crops by farmers over velvet bean, cowpea and Bambara groundnut.

 

Key words: Grain legume, farmer participation, soil fertility, phosphorus, monitoring and evaluation, financial analysis.