Abstract:

In 1992, Ugandan National Agricultural Research Organization along
with International Center for Tropical Agriculture researchers from
Kawanda Agricultural Research Institute initiated collaborative research
with farmers in Uganda. Five villages in the vicinity of the Ikulwe District
Farmers Institute in Iganga district of eastern Uganda were included. This
area represents the traditional banana (Musa sp. L.)-coffee (Coffea L.)-
based systems of the Lake Victoria Crescent agro-ecological zone. It has a
mean annual rainfall of 1255 mm in a bimodal distribution and soils that
are variable but typically have low total soil N as well as low P
availability in Ikulwe. Banana, bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), sweet potato
(Ipomoea batatas [L.] Lam.), cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz),
groundnuts (Arachis hypogaea L.) and maize (Zea mays L.) are important
food crops. The approach was participatory, systems oriented and interdisciplinary. Research activities on green manure/cover crops (GMCCs)
consisted of some designed by farmers and researchers, and some
farmers’ own experimentation. Farmer-researcher trials indicated that
yields of the GMCC species were reduced 40-70% when intercropped
with a food crop as compared to sole crop production and that yields of
food crops were reduced 61-87% when intercropped with Crotalaria
ochroleuca G. Don. In contrast, maize grain yield response in the first
season following sole-crop GMCC production ranged from 0 to 240%.