Effects of tillage practices and cropping systems on maize grain yield in Gurue, Mozambique

Conservation agriculture (CA) practices are being promoted in southern Africa to increase crop production in light of the highly depleted soils. The Mozambican population is highly depended in maize making the country extremely vulnerable as any decrease in maize production brings food insecurity. Inclusion of legumes in rotation or association with maize under CA system has potential to maintain soil fertility but also improve on maize yields. However, the advantage of CA practices in a maize–legume cropping system over conventional tillage needs to be demonstrated to farmers for it to be adopted. A study was done at Gúrue Research Station in Zambézia Province, Central Mozambique. The trial was designed as a randomized complete block in a split plot arrangement replicated four times. The main plot factor was tillage practice (conventional and conservation tillage) while the sub-plot factor was intercrop combination (sole maize, maize/cowpea, maize/beans and maize/soybean). The study demonstrated benefit in CA to increase productivity of maizelegume cropping system.