CPWF Volta Science Workshop: Integrated Rainwater Management in Crop-Livestock Systems

1. V2 PAR PROCESS: GHANA AND BURKINA
FASO

2. Team composition
ILRI, IWMI, WUR Burkina Team
Ghana Team
Agronomist ‐1 ARI
Nutritionists‐2 ARI Agronomist
Economists‐2 UDS,ARI Nutritionists
Agro‐climatologist‐1 Economists
SARI Agro‐climatologist

3. Process of PAR design
PRA Team IPs Looking for PAR Team
Getting started things to try Designing experiment
Analysis of Treatments
Secondary data constraints Number of farmer
Community Prioritization experimenters
identification and Rain water identified
entry management Resources, roles
Identification of strategies and time frame
constraints Technical and Other studies
institutional identified
constraints PAR protocol
understood indicators
Tools
Community Tools Tools
workshops IP meetings IP meetings
Questionnaire Pair wise Team meetings
Team meetings ranking
Trainings Group
discussions

4. Process contd.
Design of PAR Trying out
Sustaining Data collection Analysis
process Monitoring
IP
Sharing
ressults
Learning

5. Identified institutional constraints and possible
action
Constraints Actions
High cost of fertilizers IP to discuss, feed
evidence‐based studies to
IPs
Bushfires IPs to discuss
Inadequate knowledge in Training (MoFA),NGOs and
handling agro‐chemicals agro‐chemical companies
Inadequate storage IPs to discuss communal
facilities storage facilities

6. Identified technical constraints and possible
solutions
Constraints Technological solutions
Drought Use of Tied ridges and
contour bunds
Low soil fertility Use of organic and
inorganic manure
Lack of animal feed in dry 50% and 100% crop
season residue harvest and feed
strategies developed
Animal Prophylactic treatment of
diseases/mortalities small ruminants

7. THANK YOU!
Please stay for more on the AR
protocols

8. V2 ACTION RESEARCH PROTOCOL: GHANA
BACKGROUND
Innovation platforms, took roots from the
Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) and were built
around key crop‐livestock value chains in the Lawra
and Tolon/Kumbungu districts. They identified
constraints, opportunities and strategies at various
levels along each value chain, and these formed the
basis for formulating, in a participatory approach,
the PAR protocol.

9. Objectives of the PAR
The objectives of the PAR, which are similar
to the research questions are:
Which are the best integrated rainwater
management strategies and how would they
work in each recommendation domain?
Will integration of organic and inorganic
fertilizer for maize‐soybean intercrop,
supplementary feeding and prophylactic
treatment lead to increased farm
productivity and profitability?

10. Hypothesis
Better integration of crop‐livestock and rain
water management increases overall farm
productivity and profitability

11. Design of the experiment
Of the constraints identified at IP which require
technological solutions the project communities
agreed to use the following interventions:
Contour bunds
Tied ridges
Application of organic and/or inorganic fertilizers to
experimental plots
Supplementary feeding of small ruminants
Prophylactic treatment of small ruminants

12. Issues addressed
Rainwater management
Soil fertility improvement
Livestock feeding

13. The treatments
Soil water Soil fertility Supplementary
management management feeding
Treatment
Tied Contour Organic Inorganic 50% crop 100% crop
ridges bunds manure fertilizers residue residue
4t/ha NPK 15‐ harvest harvest
15‐15, SA (Gp. 1 (Gp. 2
farmers) farmers)
T1
T2 √ √ √ √
T3 √ √ √ √
T4 √ √ √ √ √
T5 √ √ √ √ √
ALL FARMERS WILL SOW MAIZE/SOYBEAN INTERCROP

14. Order of experiment
Agronomic
Number of farmer experimenters‐
16/location
Plot size‐0.5acre/farmer
Completely randomized block design
Subplots 15
Measuring 10mx10m
3 replicates

15. Livestock feeding experiment
T1: Free range (farmer practice)
T2: Confinement + cereal‐legume residue
T3: Confinement + cereal‐legume residue
+concentrate

16. Order of experimentation
For the raining season flock management will
be Monitored.
Feeding trials will start from January to April
Number of farmer experimenters‐6/location
Total no. of sheep/location‐30
All animals will be given prophylactic
treatment

17. Response variables
Net grain yield (maize and soybean)
Soil nutrient content (moisture, pH. NPK, C
etc.)
Crop residue yield (bulk DM, stem/leaf ratios)
Cost of production
Small ruminant manure yield (quantity,
quality),housing management
Feed intake
Weight gains, total gain, growth rate
Feed conversion ratio
Mortality rate

18. Statistical analysis
Each response variable will be subjected to
statistical analysis using the GENERAL ANOVA
of GENSTAT RELEASE 10.3 DISCOVERY
EDITION 4 with 5% level of significance

19. Field activities to date
Activity Start date Status Remarks
Farmer /AEA training 15/04/2012 Completed
on protocol
Soil sampling 14/05/2012 Completed
Procurement of seed 20/05/2012 Completed
material
Ploughing 04/06/2012 Completed
Field layout (marking 10/06/2012 Completed
out subplots)
Weighing out organic 12/06/2012 Completed
manure
Field layout (tied 12/06/2012 Completed
ridging & contour
bunds)
Sowing at 25/06/2012 Completed Lawra district not
Tolon/Kumbungu started‐no rains
District

20. Field layout demonstration at farmer training

21. Tied ridges demonstrated on the ground at farmer
training session

22. Field layout demonstration to project farmers

23. Soil sample collection

24. Soil samples

25. Weighing of organic manure

26. Contour bund

27. Tied ridges being made

28. Tied ridges being made

29. Women putting manure into pans

30. Tied ridges

31. Women carrying head pans full of manure to the fields

32. THANK YOU!
Please don’t go away. Stay
for more from Burkina
Faso!

33. V2 ACTION RESEARCH PROTOCOL
Burkina Faso
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34. Background:
Research protocol builds on :
• PRA
• IPs meetings
with regard to crop and livestock value chains
The action research addresses the constraints linked to
water, crop and livestock management.
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35. Objectives:
▪ Assess agricultural production (crop yields, animal weight
gain), water productivity and nutrient flows in smallholder
crop‐livestock farms of the Volta Basin, for different levels of
integration, different agroecological zones and different levels
of access to rainwater management technologies;
▪ Assess trade‐offs in using water for crops or for livestock,
through alternative uses of crop residues.
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36. Hypothesis
(i) Agricultural production (crop yields, animal weight gain and
milk production), water productivity and nutrient use efficiency
are higher in farms where water, crops and livestock
management are integrated in a sustainable manner.
(ii) The increase in agricultural production (crop yields, animal
weight gain and milk production), water productivity and
nutrient use efficiency due to integration has greater impact on
food security and farmers livelihood in water scarce areas
compared to areas with higher access to water.
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38. 38

39. FACTORS STUDIED
RHT: Stone rows; Stone rows + Zai; grass strip; control
Fertilization: Mineral fertilizer, OM+fertiliser; control
Animal feeding: Pasture+crop residues; pasture+crop
residues+industrial by‐products; pasture (control)
Crops: cereal; legume (improved seeds)
Animals: sheep; goat
12 farmers per village (4 villages per district, 2 districts)
Plot size: 0.25 ha per crop type 39

40. Measurements
Soil: Bulk density, pH, nutrients (NPK), OM, texture, field
capacity, wilting point.
Climate: rainfall, air Temperature, air humidity, radiation,
wind speed.
Manure & Compost: nutrient contents, water content
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41. Measurements
Crop: planting date, fertilizer application date, harvesting
date, yield, biomass production, nutrient contents, forage
quality.
Livestock: weight gain, feed water content, deaths, sales,
births, quantity of crop residues fed.
Pasture: floristic composition, herbage yield, forage
quality, nutrient contents.
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42. Measurements
Economic evaluation: date and nature of farming activities,
labour, costs and benefits, market information (prices and
outlet).
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43. STATISTIC ANALYSIS
ANOVA ; multivariate analysis, correlations
Using GENSTAT
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44. THANK YOU!
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