Husker researchers help show how to double Africa’s corn yield

Published 2024년 6월 24일

Tridge summary

A study by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and international partners, published in Nature Communications, found that smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa can double their maize yields by improving seed quality, using modest amounts of fertilizer, sowing at the right times, and implementing better crop and pest management. The research, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, emphasizes the need for supportive policies to provide smallholders with access to yield-improving technologies and training. The authors estimate that if these practices were widely adopted, they could prevent the conversion of land larger than Uganda into agriculture, which is currently under threat due to low crop yields and fast land conversion rates.

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Original content

The collaborative study by UNL faculty and international partners analyzed a database of more than 14,000 smallholder cornfields across seven countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. This field is in Rwanda. Photo by Patricio Grassini, Agronomy and Horticulture/Africa1 Better agronomic practices could reduce land conversion, need for imports LINCOLN, Neb. — An international partnership that includes University of Nebraska-Lincoln researchers has demonstrated how smallholders in Africa can double maize yields by adopting better agronomic practices. The study, published May 27 in Nature Communications, helps address the growing demand for maize in Africa, a region where yields are well below other parts of the world. Without yield improvement, meeting future maize demand would require conversion of vast tracts of natural land for maize cultivation or require increased reliance on expensive maize imports from other countries — an option that could undermine the food sovereignty of African ...

Source: Agrifocusafrica