Inoculation and staking systems of climbing bean in Kenya

Climbing bean is one of the legumes under study in Kenya. In contrast to bush beans commonly grown by farmers, climbing beans are higher yielding, have a longer growing period and require support. A field evaluation was conducted with climbing bean (cv. Kenya Mavuno) at 19 locations by project Master Farmers to assess the inoculation (BIOFIX containing CIAT 899) and three alternative staking systems of climbing beans (single staking, tripods and string trellises) during the 2011 long rains (March to July).

Lessons learned and way forward in N2Africa’s agronomy work

The results of the agronomy trials so far have provided a wealth of information, some of which presented in this podcaster. However, the agronomy team has also faced a number of challenges and results were not always as anticipated. The problems faced so far provided important lessons for the agronomy team leading to changes in the N2Africa research strategy. Below we share the the main lessons we have learned and the way we are adapting our approach.

 

N2Africa develops best-fit agronomic practices for grain legumes in Africa

The agronomy activities of N2Africa are implemented under Objective 2 of the project (Select multi-purpose legumes (food, fodder, stakes, and soil fertility management) for enhanced biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) and integrate these into farming systems). In this article you can reaasdd about the agronomy work to date.

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Introduction

N2Africa has a strong focus on agronomic management to improve crop yields. We start from the premise that successful nitrogen fixation and yield of legumes in the field depends on the interaction:

(GL×GR)×E×M

(Legume genotype × Rhizobium strain) × Environment × Management