Authors
Justin Chipomho, Joyful T Rugare, Stanford Mabasa, Shamie Zingore, Arnold Bray Mashingaidze, Regis Chikowo
Publication date
2020/10/1
Journal
Heliyon
Volume
6
Issue
10
Publisher
Elsevier
Description
Poor soil fertility and weed infestation are among major constraints to maize production in southern Africa. Nutrient and weed management strategies that are products of empirical research, are needed to improve efficiencies on farms. A field experiment was carried out in Eastern Zimbabwe on three smallholder farms positioned on upper, middle and lower catena. The farms differed in soil organic carbon (SOC) content, 3.9, 6.4 and 8.9 g kg−1 (hereafter referred to as low, medium and high), respectively, and are located within one km distance. The objective of the study was to investigate short-term (6 years) repeated application of soil nutrient amendments on maize productivity and weed dynamics across a soil fertility gradient. Treatments included strategic combinations of NPK fertiliser, cattle manure, and lime. On each farm, a randomised complete block design with three replicates was used. Multivariate …
Total citations
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