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Past and present-day erosion is a significant form of land degradation that has rendered vast areas of sloping land unproductive with respect to crop production. Thus, conservation tillage, along with complementary practices such as soil cover and crop diversity has become a better option to...

Organic amendments have been known to improve soil physical and chemical properties in sub-Saharan Africa. However, research information on how organic amendments affect aggregate stability and the degree of their effects in comparison to others is indaquate in Zambia. The study was therefore...

Agricultural practices that conserve soil moisture are inevitable in the face of erratic rains and constant droughts. Mulching can improve water productivity through increase in water retention and reduction in surface evaporation. The study was conducted in Lundazi District of Eastern Province...

Soil acidity is a common constraint to crop production in Zambia. Agricultural lime is applied in dry powder form to acid soils to neutralize acidity. New liming materials in aqueous suspension form have recently been introduced on the Zambian market and their effectiveness in neutralizing...

Maize is Zambia’s staple food crop, grown by farmers across the country. It is a high nutrient demanding crop that requires adequate amounts of N, P K and other nutrients to obtain economic yields. The recommended basal dressing fertilizer for small scale farmers in Zambia is Compound D, (10: 20:...

Zambia’s many seed companies are involved in maize cultivar development with the primary focus of breeding for yield and disease tolerance. Despite having high yielding potential, most available maize cultivars are greatly affected by drought and heat stress. The parental line stock used in the...

The adoption of soil fertility improvement strategies through the use of agroforestry practices such as improved tree fallows has been less common in Zambia. Therefore, several studies have been commissioned to investigate factors affecting the uptake of improved fallows. The use of improved...

In the light of increasing pressure on limited fresh water resources, the growing world population and increasing greenhouse gas emission, maximizing crop water use becomes an important topic. Considerable research is being done on deficit irrigation. However, there is limited published work...

Aluminum (Al) toxicity causes high yield losses and is directly linked to acidic soils. Application of lime can ameliorate this problem, but it is costly and not feasible for small scale farmers as they need to purchase both seed and lime. Developing maize varieties that are tolerant to Al...

Aluminum (Al) toxicity causes high yield losses and is directly linked to acidic soils. Application of lime can ameliorate this problem, but it is costly and not feasible for small scale farmers as they need to purchase both seed and lime. Developing maize varieties that are tolerant to Al...