Increasing Sustainable Agriculture Production in Mozambique through Drought Tolerant Maize and Conservation Agriculture By Christian Thierfelder and Peter Setimela

Introduction:Introduction:  Unreliable rainfalls  Low investments in soil fertility (some areas with shifting cultivation)  Soil degradation due to unsustainable land management (burning, cultivation)  Use of un-improved, traditional varieties  Unavailability of improved seed  Dysfunctional Input-Output markets Constraints in Mozambiquean cropping systems

Conservation Agriculture (CA) – a sustainable system  CA comprises the following principles:  Minimal soil movement  Surface crop residue retention  Crop rotations and green manure cover crops

Drought tolerant maize varieties Flowering and post-flowering drought stress ● ● Top left: time of last irrigation ● ● Top right: crop after flowering ● ● Right: genotypic differences

The Team The Mozambique National Agricultural Research and Extension Systems (IIAM and DNER) CIMMYT and other IARCs Seed producers and input suppliers American Universities (e.g. University of Tennessee) International NGO’s (i.e. Total Land Care) Donors: USAID, IFAD, ACIAR and others Field tour with partners in Manica Province

Project Progress in 2010/ Seed  Multiplication of breeder seed at CIMMYT  Support to small seed companies (Dengo, Lozane, Semente Perfeita)  Development of seed roadmaps with seed companies  Variety demonstrations Participatory variety selection in Barwe, Manica Province

Development of seed roadmaps (Lozane)

Bakir Lozane with Molucue 1 seed production in Mozambique

Release of new DT varieties   Release of two OPVs (ZM309, ZM523)   and three hybrids (Molocue1, SP1, DC1)   Multiplication of seed by private companies (193 t) in 2010/2011

Project Progress in 2010/2011- Seed  Variety evaluation in seed survey (n = 145 farmers)  Promotion of new drought tolerant maize varieties (CIMMYT and seed companies)  New varieties especially ZM309 has sparked a lot of interest amongst farmers

Project Progress in 2010/2011- CA   Community awareness work   Farmer managed validation trials   Component trials established with national partners   Continued evaluation of systems and varieties Community awareness meeting

Agronomic results from the 2010/2011 cropping season

Effect of CA on maize grain yield averaged in each target community, fertilized part with improved varieties averaged, 2010/2011

Effect of CA on maize grain yield averaged in each target community, un-fertilized part with traditional varieties averaged, 2010/2011

Variety response to each cropping system, across eight target communities under the USAID project in 2010/2011

Partial budgets from USAID project sites – Example Barwe (Manica) Check Basin Jab Planter Maize Cowpea Maize Cowpea Maize Cowpea Grain Yield Grain Price Gross Revenue Labour Land Preparation 25 Basin Opening Mulching Seeding Weeding Weeding Weeding Harvesting Total Variable Cost Input Cowpea Maize Seed Npk Round Up Urea Total Input Cost Total Variable Cost Net Revenue

Partial budgets from USAID project sites – Example Maguai (Tete) Check Basin Jab Planter Maize Beans Maize Beans Maize Beans Grain Yield Grain Price Gross Revenue Labour Land Preparation Basin Opening Mulching Seeding Weeding Weeding Harvesting Total Variable Cost Input Cowpea Maize Seed Npk Round Up Urea Total Input Cost Total Variable Cost Net Revenue

Conclusions from maize variety - and CA validation trials in 2010/2011 ● The 2010/2011 cropping season was significantly better than the previous season ● Release of five new improved maize varieties in Mozambique ● Private seed companies are getting strongly involved in project activities (over 160 t of seed multiplied) ● ZM309 is now available on the market at a competitive price ● More seed multiplication/breeding is nessesary in the country (Sussundenga)

Conclusions from maize variety - and CA validation trials in 2010/2011 ● New collaboration with the University of Tennessee will enable more in- depth studies (e.g. on soil carbon dynamics and adoption) ● CA cropping systems are equal or better performing than the traditional agriculture systems ● Economic benefits are higher on CA than conventional systems in some areas

Success stories  Early maturing  Risk reduction  Good taste and weevil resistance (flint)  Farmers select not always for higher yield!  Large uptake by private seed companies  100 tons of certified seed produced in 2010/2011 Extension of the variety ZM309 and ZM523:

Success stories ● Early planting ● short season varieties ● Two crops instead of one ● Improves food security and nutrition ● Direct impact on farmer livelihood Double cropping:

Success stories ● Reduced labour on land preparation ● Women are benefitting if herbicides are used ● Jabplanter vs dibble stick ● No-burning - Major step towards sustainable land management systems CA systems:

Plans for the 2011/2012 cropping season Variety promotion: ● Facilitation of breeder seed for multiplication ● Continued support to basic seed production ● Strengthening participatory variety selection on farmers fields ● Variety demonstration with seed companies (seed roadmaps) ● Development of more extension bulletins Conservation agriculture extension: ● Continuation of validation plots (more biophysical data taking) ● Intensive farmer evaluation exercise during the season ● Continuation and expansion of component trials ● Support to farmer experimentation and cross-site visits

Plans for the 2011/2012 cropping season Socio-economic aspects: ● More involvement of small agriculture input suppliers ● Institutionalization of both CA and improved varieties ● Revision of data at the annual evaluation and planning meetings ● Identification of constraints to farmer adoption ● Packaging of information to various audiences