Both new maize varieties and old ones are helping protect yields in the face of dryer conditions
MBEYA, Tanzania (AlertNet) – Recent years have not been kind to Veremund Mfuse and his maize crops.
As Tanzania struggles with increasingly extreme weather, the farmer, from Mbarali in Tanzania’s Mbeya region, has seen his maize production decline, a problem he says is affecting farmers across the region.
“Our major challenge here is drought. We face a critical shortage of water, rains are not reliable (and) we harvest very little,” Mfuse said.
In response to the problem, which experts in the region say is linked to climate change, some farmers are now planting new, drought-resistant maize hybrids, while others are experimenting with a return to traditional varieties.
NEW FAST-GROWING MAIZE
Arnold Mushongi, a researcher at Uyole Agricultural Research Institute in Mbeya, about 860 km (540 miles) from Dar es Salaam, has developed several new varieties of maize that require little water, can grow in less fertile soil and are pest-resistant.
They can also produce significantly bigger yields: 8 to 10 tonnes per hectare compared with less than 2 tonnes per hectare from commonly used local varieties, particularly in drought conditions, according to Mushongi.
The new hybrids mature in 125 to 130 days, up to three weeks less than is required for normal maize varieties.
Mfuse says that is exactly the kind of maize he now needs to be planting.
“Maize seeds that take so long to mature are a loss (in current conditions). We need seeds that take a shorter period to mature, (so that) when rains stop the maize is ready for harvest,” he said.
Four of the new hybrids, especially suited to high altitudes, are now being grown in farms in areas between 800 and 2,200 metres (2,600 and 7,200 feet) above sea level.
Maize is Tanzania’s major staple crop, and about 85 percent of the population depends on it for their food or livelihood. Half the maize produced in the country comes from the regions of Iringa, Ruvuma, Mbeya and Rukwa in the Southern Highlands, known as the nation’s “bread basket.”
The Southern Highlands contribute about 90 percent of maize held in the National Strategic Grain Reserve. In the past, the area enjoyed bumper maize harvests, but in recent years yields have declined due to drought, unreliable rains and worsening diseases.
Climate change appears to be causing temperatures to rise, said Mushongi, leading to the appearance of insect pests, new types of diseases such maize streak fungus, and weeds such as striga, all of which adversely affect crops.
Mfuse acknowledges that poor land management has also played a role in agricultural production declines. Felling of indigenous trees to make charcoal, overgrazing, and farming in swamp areas, on river banks and at water sources during the dry season have exacerbated problems with lack of water.
TRADITIONAL VARIETIES
While most of the measures employed in adapting agriculture to changing climate conditions focus on modern science, some farmers in the Southern Highlands are also turning to traditional maize varieties, which they say are better adapted to local conditions.
Leneth Motto, a farmer from Kilolo district in Iringa region, said that while farmers still grow and sell hybrid maize varieties that come from Kenya, they prefer to grow and eat local maize varieties for their own needs.
“Local maize seeds are thick, dense and mature early, they are good for food and provide more flour compared to hybrids,” Motto said.
Recent findings by the International Institute for Environment and Development, a non-profit UK-based research organisation, suggest that traditional knowledge could be an effective guide to adapting agriculture to climate change.
In coastal Kenya, researchers found, many farmers are going back to using traditional maize varieties that are proving hardy and better able to cope with unpredictable weather conditions and local pests.
Farmers in the region also choose traditional crop varieties over modern ones because they are cheap, easily accessible and commonly shared within and between villages. Most of the seeds come from the farmers’ own seed banks.
According to the research findings, policy makers have undervalued how traditional knowledge has enabled indigenous communities to cope with extreme weather and environmental change over the centuries.
But Mushongi believes that improving crop yields remains the major challenge facing food production in Tanzania, as population continues to rise and the climate becomes increasingly unpredictable.
Felix Mwakyembe is a freelance writer based in Mbeya, Tanzania.
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