Annex identification of different global production systems and their relative productivity
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- Inputs, kg/ ha N, P K, other agrochemicals
1.4.3 Smallholder dry and coldThis farming system, typical of areas of limited agricultural potential due to lack of rain or low night or winter temperatures, covers a vast land area, around 3.5 billion ha including north and west Africa, particularly much of India, China and Indonesia. Yet it supports only a relatively modest agricultural population of around 500 million. Such systems are based on mixed farming systems or pastoral activities, merging eventually into sparse and often dispersed systems with low productivity due to environmental constraints including nutrient poor soils, low temperatures and lack of rainfall (FAO, 2003). The pastoral farming system found at the southern boundary of the Pampas in Patagonia is an example of a rain fed dry/cold system. Sheep and cattle ranching is the main farming activity as the lack of rainfall prevents the growth of crops (FAO, 1998). Another example of this system is in western Kenya. The Teso, Vihiga and Kakamega districts of Kenya are areas with high potential for agriculture. Farm sizes range from 0.5 to 2.0 hectares on average, ranging from subsistence to cash crop farms. The main crops grown are maize, beans, sorghum and cassava. Fertiliser use ranges from nil in the Nakasongol district of Uganda, to 101 kg/ha per year in the Busia district of Kenya (Fermont et al, 2008). In a study by Tittonell et al (2008), soils have been categorised as fertile (22%), average (40%) and poor (38%) based on a sample of 60 farms in the region. The study concludes that soils considered as poor by farmers were given very little input. This is typical of farming across western Kenya (Tittonell et al, 2008). The future of the smallholder dry and cold system is likely to continue to be affected by environmental degradation such as soil infertility, poor water quality and monocropping, which make ecosystems less resilient to stress than more diverse agricultural systems (FAO, 2008). Changes in this farming system have been felt by local farmers themselves. In Zimbabwe for example, local farmers have seen changes in rainfall patterns and yields. Weather is becoming less predictable, making it difficult to know when to plant crops. In addition, local farmers suggest that soils have become less fertile and as a result harvests have fallen. Meterological Office statistics for Zimbabwe indicate that annual mean temperature increased by around 0.4 degrees Celsius between 1900 and 2000 (African Agriculture, 2009).. As well as this, by 2080 annual rainfall will average 5-18% below the 1961-1990 average of 634.8 mm. Table 10. Characteristics of smallholder dry and cold production systems
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