The African food crisis poses a serious challenge to all those involved in agricultural
research on this continent. Soils, plants, animals and water are natural resources
amenable to management interventions designed by research for increased and
sustained food production. The conference on which this book reports reviewed
experience and progress in the improved use of African Vertisols and developed
important recommendations for future research and development of this resource.
Vertisols, sometimes called cracking clay soils, cover approximately 80 million hectares of Africa, and have been generally regarded as rather marginal for arable cropping. The majority of African Vertisols are therefore not cultivated and carry large numbers of animals, both domesticated and wild. However, much evidence has been produced that Vertisols can be transformed into productive crop land if their management addresses their inherent physical problems. It is also the general experience that improvements in tillage quality will lead to higher increases in crop yields on clay soils compared to light soils. Since heavy clay soils are very difficult to till by hand, their tillage for cropping tends to be either mechanised or animal-powered. Strong crop/livestock interactions are evident in the latter ease, where animal power contributes to the necessary soil cultivation and where more livestock can be fed on the basis of the enhanced production of crop residues and by-products. Experience also suggests that animal power tends to have comparative advantages over tractor power in tilling cracking clays, especially in the wet phase. Research on draught animal technologies for the management of Vertisols is therefore likely to have a considerable impact on the productive performance of entire farming systems on these soils. This research approach has been taken by the joint ILCA/ICRISAT/IBSRAM/Government of Ethiopia Vertisol Project. These bodies were responsible for organising the conference, the proceedings of which are presented here.
Research on the soil-water-plant-animal complex is inherently interdisciplinary. Therefore, programmes must transcend institutional borders so as to mobilise complementary and synergistic forces for faster achievement of their goals. A careful integration of extension services into these programmes is necessary for early transfer of validated technologies to the farming community.
More than 500 participants from 21 countries attended this conference. It is hoped that this event contributed to enhanced knowledge of the valuable African resource of Vertisols and to increased motivation among researchers and development workers to bring this resource into a stage of higher and sustained productivity.
Dr John Walsh
Director General ILCA
