Pius Kipchumba CHEBOI, Clement Kiprotich KIPTUM, Japheth O. ONYANDO

Effect of Tillage Techniques on Depth, Furrow Slice and Water Retention in Maugo Smallholder Rice Scheme in Kenya

This study was conducted with the aim of determining the influence of tillage techniques on depth, furrow slice and water retention in Maugo Smallholder Rice Scheme in Kenya. Treatments were arranged in randomized complete block design with four replicates. Four tillage treatments were used. The first one was conventional ox plough practiced by farmers where they first flood the field with water before ploughing. The other three treatments were ox plough, hand hoe and tractor ploughing all with no flooding before ploughing. Data collected included depth of ploughing and harrowing during land preparation. Furrow slices during ploughing and harrowing as well as water retention were recorded. Tractor ploughing had the highest mean depth of ploughing of 42.00 ± 0.81 cm followed by conventional ox ploughing with 17.75 ± 0.75 cm, ox ploughing15.75 ± 0.62 cm and hand hoe ploughing had the lowest mean depth 15.50 ± 0.28 cm. Tractor ploughing had the largest mean furrow size of 62.00 ± 0.91cm followed by conventional ox ploughing 32.25 ± 0.85 cm, ox ploughing 30.25 ± 0.85 cm while hand hoe ploughing had the smallest mean furrow slice of 16.5 ± 0.50 cm. Highest mean of retained water was recorded in week 4 in paddy rice fields prepared using conventional ox ploughing (10.5 cm), ox ploughing (10 cm), hand hoe ploughing (11.5 cm) and tractor ploughing (11.5 cm) while the lowest was recorded in week 15 for conventional plots. There were significant differences in mean depths during both ploughing and harrowing. Tractor ploughing mean depths were significantly different from the other treatments. The weekly mean water depths retained in the plots were more than 6 cm for the entire growing period of rice.

PDF

___

Bashagaluke JB, Logah V, Opuku A, Tuffour HO, SarkodieAddo J, Quansah C. 2019. Soil loss and run-off characteristics under different soil amendments and cropping systems in semi-deciduous forest zone of Ghana. Soil Use and Management, DOI://https://doi.org/10.1111/sum.12531

Del Rosario AR, Briones VP, Vidal AJ, and Juliano BO. 1968. Composition and endosperm structure of developing and mature rice kernel. Cereal Chem. 45:225-235.

Domenech L. 2015. Is Reliable Water Access the Solution to Undernutrition? A Review of the Potential of Irrigation to Solve Nutrition and Gender Gaps in Africa South of the Sahara:1-36.

FAO, 2020. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. FAOSTAT. Available from: http://www.fao.org/ faostat/en/#data/QC/visualize [Accessed 28 June 2020]

FAO, 2015. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States. The economic lives of smallholder farmers. An analysis based on household data from nine countries: 1-48.

GoK, 2013. Government of Kenya. County Government of Homa Bay First County Integrated Development Plan 2013-2017. Nairobi Kenya: 4-6.

Kareem KI, and Sven P.2019. Effect of Ploughing Depth, Tractor forward speed, and plough types on the fuel consumption and tractor performance. Polytechnic Journal, DOI://https://doi.org/ 10.25156/ptj.v9nly2019.pp43-49

Knoema, 2019, Kenya-Rice imports. Available from https://knoema.com/atlas/Kenya/topics/Agriculture/TradeImport-Quantity/Rice-imports-quantity [Accessed 29 June 2020]

M’Marete CK. 1991. The bearing capacity of the soils of Ahero irrigated rice fields under exposure to land preparation traffic. MSc Thesis, Department of Agricultural Engineering, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya.

Prodhan ZH, Qingyao S. 2020. Rice Aroma: A Natural Gift Comes with Price and the WayForward. Science Direct, Rice Science, DOI://https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rsci.2020.01.001

Sornpoon W, Jayasuriya HPW. 2013. Effect of different tillage and residue management practices on growth and yield of corn cultivation in Thailand. Agric Eng Int: CIGR Journal: 86-94

United Nations. 2015. Sustainable Development Goals. Available from https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/ 21252030%20Agenda%20for%20Sustainable%20Developm ent%20web.pdf [Accessed on 11 September 2020]

TNAU AGRITECH/ 2016. Agriculture. Available from http://agritech.tnau.ac.in/agriculture/agri_tillage_tillageimpl ements.html [Accessed on 11 September 2020]

World Food Programme. 2015. Kenya Country Strategic Plan 2018-2023:1-41.