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Doubled-up legume systems under CA: Africa RISING science, innovations and technologies with scaling potential from ESA-Zambia Christian Thierfelder (CIMMYT), Peter Setimela (CIMMYT), Mulundu Mwila (ZARI) and Mateete Bekunda (IITA) Key messages Doubled-up legume systems have been tested under conventional and conservation agriculture (CA) systems Though pigeonpea yields were affected by late season droughts and insects, better spatial arrangements of groundnuts under CA may increase the overall yields of maize planted after the legumes This research adds to the successful work done by the Africa RISING group in Malawi and shows great potential for scaling. This poster is licensed for use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. January 2017 We thank farmers and local partners in Africa RISING sites for their contributions to this research. We also acknowledge the support of all donors which globally support the work of the CGIAR centers and their partners through their contributions to the CGIAR system Objectives and approach Sustainable intensification of both legume and cereal systems are required to increase productivity and income of smallholder farming systems in southern Africa. Doubled-up legume systems have been tested in different spatial arrangements (e.g. sole groundnuts, sole pigeonpea, full population groundnuts + half population pigeonpea, full population groundnuts + full population pigeonpea) under both conventional and conservation agriculture. Residual effects on maize were evaluated. These were replicated across five farms in three districts of Chipata. Key results Groundnuts and pigeonpea harmonized well in doubled-up legume systems (Picture 1) although pigeonpea grain yields were affected by late season droughts and beetles (Figure 1). Planting both legumes under CA led to a better spatial arrangement of groundnuts (Picture 1) and drastic reductions in labour for planting. Residual maize yield effects of doubled-up legume systems had an overall yield benefit if planted under CA over conventional agriculture systems (Figure 2). However, no significant legume treatment effect on maize yield in each system were discovered (Figure 2). Significance and scaling potential A lot of data on doubled-up legume systems has already been generated by the Africa RISING group in Malawi. However, all of this work was primarily done under conventional ridge tillage. This evidence generated by the Zambian group contributes and adds to the earlier evidence and provides the scientific background of doubling-up legumes under CA. CRS is planning to scale this systems in Zambia to a large extend and the partnerships created will support these outscaling initiatives. Picture 1: Pigeonpea and groundnuts in a doubled-up legume system under conservation agriculture as witnessed by Jerry Glover and Sieglinde Snapp, Chipata District, Eastern Zambia, 2015/2016 Figure 1: Combined groundnut and pigeonpea yields in target communities (Phase 1), Eastern Zambia, 3785 b 4286 a 0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 Maize grain yield (kg ha -1 ) Conservation agriculture Conventional agriculture Figure 2: Residual effects of doubled-up legume systems on maize grain yield (Phase 2), Eastern Zambia Photo credit: S. Snapp a b a a a b a a 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 sole GN sole PP full GN: half PP full GN: full PP sole GN sole PP full GN: half PP full GN: full PP Combined grain yield (kg ha -1 ) Groundnuts (GN) Pigeonpea (PP) Conservation Agriculture Conventional Agriculture
