Abstract
Abstract Introduction Maize production in smallholder farmers located in semiarid areas of Zimbabwe are mainly constrained by soil moisture and nutrient stress. Moisture stress is mainly due to erratic rainfall, high rates of evapotranspiration and limited knowledge of the use of in situ rainwater harvesting (IRWH) techniques. Tied ridges (TRs) are one of the best IRWH techniques which have good potential in mitigating climate change. Materials and Methods The study used TR, planting pit (PP) and conventional tillage (CT) as main factors and four rates (0, 29.25, 58.5 and 89.5 kg N ha −1 ) of nitrogen (N) as subplot factor. Soil organic carbon and available phosphorous were determined using Oslen method where soils were incubated for 2 h at 110°C. Smallholder farmers are limited to apply large quantities of nutrients hence the need for microdosing. The study objective was to evaluate the effects of nutrient microdosing and IRHW techniques on maize grain yield, rainwater use efficiency (RWUE), nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and return on investment in semiarid areas of Zimbabwe. Results Interaction of TR and N microdosing significantly ( p < 0.05) improved maize grain yields. IRWH also showed significant effects ( p < 0.05) on maize grain yields with a trend: TR > PP > CT. RWUE and NUE were significantly ( p < 0.05) improved with the interaction of IRWH and N. Application of 58.5 kg N ha −1 had the highest NUE under TR. TR had the highest (US$1747.23) return on investment when combined with 89.5 kg N ha −1 during 2021/22 cropping season. Conclusion The use of TR and 89.5 kg N ha −1 proved to be a potential strategy in increasing maize grain yields, produce higher return on investment and increase RWUE. The use of TRs and 89.5 kg N ha −1 is recommended because of high maize grain yield, RWUE and return on investment.
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Claims 7
Claim · model-written summary
Tied ridges with nitrogen microdosing significantly improved maize grain yield.
Zea maysNot reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Interaction of TR and N microdosing significantly ( p < 0.05) improved maize grain yields”
Claim · model-written summary
Maize grain yield ranked tied ridges above planting pits above conventional tillage.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“IRWH also showed significant effects ( p < 0.05) on maize grain yields with a trend: TR > PP > CT”
Claim · model-written summary
The water harvesting and nitrogen interaction significantly improved rainwater use efficiency.
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“RWUE and NUE were significantly ( p < 0.05) improved with the interaction of IRWH and N”
t0“maize production”
Claim · model-written summary
The water harvesting and nitrogen interaction significantly improved nitrogen use efficiency.
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“RWUE and NUE were significantly ( p < 0.05) improved with the interaction of IRWH and N”
t0“maize production”
Claim · model-written summary
At 58.5 kg N ha −1, tied ridges had the highest nitrogen use efficiency.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Application of 58.5 kg N ha −1 had the highest NUE under TR”
t0“maize production”
Claim · model-written summary
Tied ridges with 89.5 kg N ha −1 gave the highest return on investment, US$1747.23, in 2021/22.
- Treatment
- TRe0
- Outcome
- return on investmente0
- Direction
- higheste0
- Value
- US$1747.23e0
- Qualifier
- when combined with 89.5 kg N ha −1 during 2021/22 cropping seasone0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“TR had the highest (US$1747.23) return on investment when combined with 89.5 kg N ha −1 during 2021/22 cropping season”
t0“maize production”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors recommend tied ridges with 89.5 kg N ha −1 for high yield, water efficiency and return on investment.
- Outcome
- use of TRs and 89.5 kg N ha −1e0
- Qualifier
- high maize grain yield, RWUE and return on investmente0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The use of TRs and 89.5 kg N ha −1 is recommended because of high maize grain yield, RWUE and return on investment”
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