Effects of Climate-Smart Agriculture Technologies on Maize-Common Bean Intercrops Growth and Yield Performances in Smallholder Farmer’s Fields in Semi-Arid Areas, Tanzania — Oak Academic Publishing
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Effects of Climate-Smart Agriculture Technologies on Maize-Common Bean Intercrops Growth and Yield Performances in Smallholder Farmer’s Fields in Semi-Arid Areas, Tanzania
School of Life Sciences and Bioengineering, The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, Arusha, Tanzania
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School of Life Sciences and Bioengineering, The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, Arusha, Tanzania
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Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Arusha, Tanzania
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School of Life Sciences and Bioengineering, The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, Arusha, Tanzania
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Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute, Selian Centre, Arusha, Tanzania
1 School of Life Sciences and Bioengineering, The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, Arusha, Tanzania
2 School of Life Sciences and Bioengineering, The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, Arusha, Tanzania
3 Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Arusha, Tanzania
4 School of Life Sciences and Bioengineering, The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, Arusha, Tanzania
5 Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute, Selian Centre, Arusha, Tanzania
Climate-Smart Agriculture Technologies (CSATs) offer promising solutions to improve climate resilience and productivity among smallholder farmers. From 2022 to 2024, a study was conducted in semi-arid areas of Tanzania to evaluate selected CSATs, including a drought-tolerant maize variety (DTMV), an early-maturing bean variety (EMBV), and farmyard manure (FYM), compared to local varieties under traditional farmer practices (FPs). Using the Triadic Comparison of Technology (Tricot) method across 135 farms, treatments were assigned in incomplete randomized sets. Data were analyzed using ANOVA and the Plackett-Luce model. Results indicated that integrating improved varieties with FYM significantly boosted yields. The highest combined maize and bean yield was obtained from the T105 + TARI B6 treatment (4.809 ± 1.034 tons/ha), followed by T105 + Selian 13 (4.788 ± 0.991 tons/ha) and T104 + TARI B6 (4.56 ± 0.270 tons/ha). In contrast, traditional practices without FYM, such as Msituka + Bjesca (local checks), yielded significantly less (2.866 ± 0.726 and 2.705 ± 0.687 tons/ha). Further, treatments responded significantly to spacing and FYM (P < 0.001), with wider spacing increasing maize yield to 4.978 tons/ha, while bean yield was slightly higher at 75 × 30 cm (0.5485 tons/ha) than wider spacing (0.5456 tons/ha). The net gain in maize yield compensated for the slight bean difference, resulting in higher overall productivity. These findings emphasize the importance of CSATs, particularly improved crop varieties combined with FYM in enhancing yield and resilience to climate variability. The study recommends the adoption of these practices by smallholder farmers in semi-arid Tanzania as an effective strategy for climate change adaptation.
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