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Mario Chilundo
Institutionen för mark och miljö, SLU
mario.chilundo@slu.se
SLU news
More efficient irrigation and fertiliser management in Mozambique
Published: 29 May 2017
As much as 40% of the global food production comes from irrigated agriculture, but large amount of fertilisers and irrigation water is lost due to inappropriate irrigation practices. In a new doctoral thesis, Mário Chilundo put forward suggestions for sustainable agriculture with different irrigation and nitrogen fertilisers during two seasons in semi-arid loamy sandy soils in Mozambique.
To enable a sustainable crop production, it is vital to use both water and fertilizer efficiently. Today, arid and semi-arid areas sustain about 14% of the global population and about 60% of the total population in sub-Saharan Africa.
Water and fertilisers lost due to bad irrigation practices
As much as 40% of the global food production comes from irrigated agriculture today. However, a large amount of fertilisers and irrigation water is lost due to inappropriate irrigation practices. The agriculture sector therefore faces a complex series of challenges to ensure food security. Not only do we need to produce more food, but the production also needs to be sustainable, with less water per unit of output and reduced nitrogen losses through leaching.
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Harvest time in the hot-wet season. Photo: Vicente Chaúque.
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Top dressing with slow release urea in a drip irrigated plot in the hot-wet season. Photo: Mario Chilundo.
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Mario Chilundo observe root growth in the hot-wet season. Photo: Vicente Chaúque.
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Improving water and fertiliser efficiency in Mozambique
In a new doctoral thesis, Mário Chilundo has investigated the interactions between water and fertilizer management factors affecting water and nitrogen use efficiency in maize on a semi-arid loamy sandy soil.
– The study area for my thesis is Mozambique. The country has 3 million hectares of land suitable for irrigation, but today only 90000 hectares are being used. So, there is a large potential for expansion, says Mário.
Mário also investigated the impact on maize yield and other crop properties. Cropping periods in two hot-wet seasons and two cold-dry seasons were compared. The treatments involved two irrigation methods (furrow and drip), two irrigation levels (full and reduced) and two top dressing nitrogen fertiliser types (quick-release and slow-release).
Different management for different seasons
Mário found trends for better nitrogen uptake, water and nitrogen use efficiency and grain yield in the cold-dry than in the hot-wet season, especially under reduced irrigation.
Furrow irrigation with reduced irrigation level tended to give higher grain and nitrogen use efficiency in both hot-wet and cold-dry cropping periods. In both seasons, full irrigation level with quick-release nitrogen fertiliser was found to redistribute more water and nitrogen down into the soil. In contrast, reduced irrigation in the hot-wet season did not result in the same redistribution down into the soil profile.
In the cold-dry cropping period, reduced irrigation combined with slow-release nitrogen fertiliser, made nitrogen stay in the soil longer no matter what irrigation method was used. Drip irrigation resulted in a moister soil profile overall in both seasons, and allowed better growth and elongation of coarse and fine maize roots.
– Reduced irrigation should be considered as a potential irrigation management option for semi-arid loamy sandy soil in both hot-wet and cold-dry seasons. Drip irrigation and slow-release nitrogen fertiliser is more suitable options for the cold-dry season, says Mário.