Chinese agricultural technology transfer to African typical dry areas: practice and experience

doi:10.15302/J-FASE-2020353

Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering

2020, Vol. 7

Issue (4): 440-454 https://doi.org/10.15302/J-FASE-2020353

本期目录

Chinese agricultural technology transfer to African typical dry areas: practice and experience

Qiuxia MENG^1,², Jianjie ZHANG^1,², Wenyan XIE^1,², Huaiping ZHOU^1,², Qiang ZHANG³(

)

¹. College of Resources and Environment, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taiyuan 030031, China
². Institute of Agricultural Environment and Resources, Shanxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Taiyuan 030031, China
³. Shanxi Agricultural University, Taiyuan 030031, China

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Abstract：

Africa has experienced increasing aridity and higher frequency of droughts due to climate change during the half past century with possible adverse effects on agricultural production, especially in dry areas with low rainfall. Under the auspices of the Africa Water Action Program between the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the Institute of Agricultural Environment and Resources, Shanxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences (SAAS-IAER) worked closely with domestic and overseas partners on technology transfer in Morocco, Zambia, Egypt, Niger and Ethiopia from 2008 to 2013. A drought early warning system has been established and validated, and drought adaptation technologies have been trialed, modified, demonstrated and extended in African countries, and this shows great potential to increase crop production, water and fertilizer use efficiency and desert control in rainfed areas of Africa. The project has continued for six years and is a successful case of technology transfer and capacity building in Africa. The knowledge and experience gained will be useful to researchers, technicians, aid agencies and policy makers who work on agricultural technology transfer for in dry areas of Africa.

Key words： drought early warning adaptation technology China United Nations Environment Program Africa

收稿日期: 2019-11-15 出版日期: 2020-11-06

Corresponding Author(s): Qiang ZHANG

引用本文:

. [J]. Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering, 2020, 7(4): 440-454.
Qiuxia MENG, Jianjie ZHANG, Wenyan XIE, Huaiping ZHOU, Qiang ZHANG. Chinese agricultural technology transfer to African typical dry areas: practice and experience. Front. Agr. Sci. Eng. , 2020, 7(4): 440-454.

链接本文:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fase/CN/10.15302/J-FASE-2020353
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fase/CN/Y2020/V7/I4/440

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Key technology	Location/coverage	Key achievements	Main constraints	Recommendations
Zinc-manganese balanced fertilization of soft wheat	Safi, Morocco 1200 m²	Zn application resulted in a grain yield of 1028 kg·ha^-¹, an increase of 29% over the control. Mn application induced an increase of 27% over the control	Increased investment costs for fertilizers. Zinc and manganese fertilizers are not available locally	Combine with DEWS and use in the wet years. Help in access to fertilizers
Zinc-manganese balanced fertilization of lentil	Safi, Morocco 1200 m²	The grain yield increases were 28% for zinc, 30% for manganese and 7% for combined fertilization, and reached 615, 626 and 518 kg·ha^-¹, respectively, despite climate constraints	As above	As above
Zero-tillage, straw mulching and nitrogen management of soft wheat	Safi, Morocco 1200 m²	Straw-mulching increased grain yield by 34% and reached 1775 kg·ha^-¹compared to 1326 kg·ha^-¹in non-mulched control when two droughts struck during the growth period. Nitrogen input (60 kg·ha^-¹) increased grain yield by 12% in the very dry year of 2012	Increased investment costs for straw and labor The use of crop residues for other purposes (i.e., fuel or livestock feed)	Subsidies provided by local government and community
Zero-tillage, straw mulching and nitrogen management of lentil	Safi, Morocco 1200 m²	No-tillage, and previous cereal fertilizer-N rate of 60 kg·ha^-¹resulted in grain yields of 467 and 463 kg·ha^-¹, increases of 20% and 11%, respectively	As above	As above
Drought-resistant seed coating agent on soft wheat	Safi, Morocco 1200 m²	Foliar spraying with fulvic acid increased grain production to 1743 kg·ha^-¹ but not significantly	Unwillingness of farmers to invest more due to yield uncertainty in the very dry years	Combine with other methods such as altering sowing date and choose drought-resistant cultivars
Drought-resistant seed coating agent on soft wheat	Safi, Morocco 1200 m²	Seed coating/foliar spraying with ‘Raxil’ or fulvic acid did not increase grain yield under water stress.
On-farm technology transfer on wheat and lentil	Six private farms in Abda area 12 ha	No-till crop management packages were compared to conventional farming practice. No-till package increased grain yield of soft wheat and lentil by 8.8% and 20.4%, respectively. Very informative to the farmers and they are in the process of adapting	Demand a special drill machine for direct seeding that is costly to farmers and not available in the local markets. Labor scarcity and high costs of weeding and harvesting	Develop/introduce low-cost and well-adapted small machinery
Zinc-boron balanced fertilization	Liempe, Zambia 600 m²	Had no effect on maize growth, above ground biomass, grain yield or harvest index	Affected by soil dilution and by weather limitations. Increased investment cost	Use in the form of a foliar spray. Provide subsidies by local government and community
Duel-mulching with plastic film and straw	Liempe, Zambia 600 m²	Ridging and plastic-film mulching increased maize grain yield from 2.45 t·ha^-1to 4.54 t·ha^-1	The use of crop residues for other purposes (i.e., fuel or livestock feed). Unwillingness of farmers to invest more due to yield uncertainty while costs are increased. No fencing to avoid grazing by roaming animals	Provide subsidies by local government and community. Introduce insurance mechanism for yield uncertainty
Drip-irrigated film- or straw- mulched furrow and ridge planting technology	Ismailia, Egypt 3000 m²	The technologies saved water use by 50% and substantially increased water use efficiency and grain yield.	Initial investment costs are high. Too complicated for local farmers. Lack of auxiliary facility	Modify by replacing drip-irrigation with local irrigation pattern
Nylon net sand-break and traditional sand fixation techniques	Grouré, Niger 1000 m²	Effectively lower wind speed and stop dunes from moving and showed good effect. Farmers and technicians were very interested and active	Nylon net is not available locally	Use local materials such as bush branches
Rain collection using fish scale-shaped pits for forestation	Dosso, Niger 800 m²	Effectively increase the survival rate of tree seedlings by 75%	Low incentives due to lack of immediate returns	Provide subsidies by local government and community
Chinese millet cultivation method	Tahoua, Niger 800 m²	Increase millet yield effectively by 60%	Inadequate awareness of local people toward intensive farming. Conservative attitude of locals to Chinese millet species	Emphasize the role of local technicians in continuing technology extension and services. Transfer the technology to local millet species
Alternate large and small ridges with or without plastic film mulching	Tahoua, Niger 800 m²	Increase maize yield effectively by 56%	Difficulty in mastering the technology by local farmers. Environmental concern about pollution by plastic film residues	Emphasize the role of local technicians in continuing technology extension and services. Introduce bio-degradable film or thicker film that can be collected easily after harvest
Selection of soil and water-conserving plants	Niamey, Niger	Selected 12 local economic tree species and more than 10 windbreak and sand-fixing plant species with economic value	Lack of product processing infrastructure and technology. Low incentives due to lack of markets and immediate returns	Increase infrastructure input, technical training and subsidies by local government and community. Cooperate with international companies in product value chain development

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Date	Training content	Trainers	Trainees	Location
July 2010	Demonstration of drought early warning and adaptation technology	SAAS-IAER, China Agricultural University and the University of Melbourne	19 trainees from UNEP, Morocco, Zambia, Libya, and Egypt	Taiyuan, China
August to September 2011	Demonstration and extension systems of crop varieties, production of seed potatoes and seed production and propagation technology of vegetables	Northwest A&F University	45 technicians and 120 researchers from 39 government departments and agricultural universities of 21 countries including Morocco, Egypt, South Africa, Uganda, and Sudan	Yangling, China
September 2011	An Overview on Agricultural Development in the Arid Area of north-west China	North-west A&F University	24 trainees from 9 countries including Morocco and Egypt	Yangling, China
April 2012	Experimentation, demonstration and extension of Chinese dryland drought adaptation technology	Northwest A&F University	40 professors and students from the College of Agricultural Engineering, the College of Agriculture, and the College of Resources and Environment of Suez Canal University	Ismailia, Egypt
April 2013	Seed coating agent in production of wheat and legumes, balanced fertilization of wheat and legumes, and zero-tillage, straw mulching and nitrogen management of wheat and legumes	SAAS-IAER and INRA, Morocco	20 technicians, 25 students and 120 local farmers	Safi, Morocco
November2012	Dryland wheat cultivation	Northwest A&F University	80 farm owners, farm workers and farmers	Ismailia, Egypt
June 2012	Rain harvesting and reforestation.	Gansu Desert Control Research Institute	6 local technicians and 58 local farmers.	Niamey, Niger
	Sand dune fixation and desertification control.	Gansu Desert Control Research Institute	20 local technicians and 60 local farmers.	Zinder, Niger
	Dryland maize and millet cultivation	Gansu Desert Control Research Institute	4 local technicians, 30 members of the farmer association and 35 local farmers	Tava, Niger
February 2014	Drought Early Warning Workshop	SAAS-IAER and Zambia Meteorological Department	10 technicians and 3 technical specialists from Zambia Meteorological Department and the College of Agricultural Sciences, the University of Zambia	Choma, Zambia

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