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ARF ARIS ATIRI KAPP KASAL USAID E. Afr. agric. For. J. UPALNet-Kenya

Land and Water Management

One of the crucial factors, which influence crop yields per unit area of land is the extent to which the soil and water conditions are optimum for that crop species. Yet soil properties and annual rainfall and its distribution during the growing season vary from one area to another. Additionally, there is ample evidence that the country is experiencing serious depletion of its soil resources even in formerly very fertile areas while rainfall is not efficiently used. The nation has generally not given adequate attention to the protection of water catchment areas. Consequently, soil is lost through both water and wind erosion and soil fertility decreases due to crop nutrient removal without replenishment and, hence, the soils require additional/mostly more expensive inputs to sustain profitable crop harvests. These losses also result in environmental degradation including pollution of rivers, water logging and salinity and increased incidence of waterborne human and livestock diseases. The scenario is rendered more damaging because most of the Kenyan farming is rain-fed. Only 1.5% of the land is under irrigation. At the same time many people have migrated to the arid and semi-arid lands (due to population pressure in the high and medium potential areas) where rainfall is low and unreliable and where evapo-transpiration rates are very high. These ecosystems are 'fragile' and require a concerted effort to ensure that the resource base is not degraded further. In recognition of this strategic role of management technologies for soil and water resources, the Institute has established laboratory facilities whose analytical services are key to judicious and profitable use of farm inputs and production of high quality and wholesome products in a sustainable environment. Concerted efforts are being put in place to ensure that systems are in place for timely provision of quality services as well as interpretation of the findings of soil analyses and implementation of the resulting recommendations to support profitable levels of quality crop production.

Goal

The broad goal of the programme is to contribute to appropriate/superior technologies and knowledge to sustainably enhance incomes of the rural people.

Purpose

The programme is set out to develop and validate appropriate knowledge and technologies to improve the production capacity of the available soil and water resources and catalyse their adoption.

In order to achieve this goal and purpose in the most efficient way, research in soil and water management is carried out under four main research programme components, namely soil and water management, land resources surveys and inventory, soil fertility and plant nutrition, and irrigation and drainage.

Recently, the programme expanded its scope through the integration of the Lake Victoria Environmental Management Project (LVEMP).

Expected Outputs

The expected outputs to achieve the outlined programme purpose are as follows:

· Appropriate soil and water conservation technologies for protection and proper conservation of productive soils and rehabilitation of highly eroded and degraded developed and adaptation/adoption fostered and effect on profitability of principal agricultural enterprises monitored.

· Appropriate soil management technologies for sustainable restoration, maintenance and improvement of soil fertility developed and adaptation/adoption fostered and monitored.

· Appropriate technologies for the management of problem soils (acidic, saline-alkaline, sodic, flood-prone and poorly drained soils) developed, and adaptation/adoption fostered, monitored and related to profitability of priority agricultural enterprises.

· Soil, plant and water quality as well as land resources surveys and maps availed on commercial basis.

· Recommendations for the improvement of irrigation schemes in the country developed and adaptation/adoption fostered and monitored.

· Networking between centres dealing with soil and water management research created within KARI and collaboration with IARCs, extension service, NGOs and regional networks dealing with natural resource management fostered and monitored.

Future Strategies

· Determined efforts will be made to relate soil and water management (including soil fertility and plant nutrition) to profitable and sustainable farming.

· Bold steps will to be taken to integrate the soil and water component for high rainfall areas with the soil fertility and plant nutrition programme component to avoid duplication of work in future and to use available resources more efficiently. The most important areas to address are integrated soil fertility management, particularly regarding soils of seriously depleted fertility and sustainable soil and water conservation measures. The latter particularly applies to ASAL. Steps have also to be taken to incorporate conservation tillage into the cropping systems as means of conserving both water and the soil.

· Agro-meteorology capacity will be strengthened so that response farming depending on prevailing weather patterns can be promoted.

· The land resource survey (commonly known as KSS) will further develop user-friendly products for better land utilisation on a commercial basis for government and private sector. KSS will continue to generate biophysical land resources information for multipurpose land use planning and will conduct soil, vegetation and land use surveys at various scales according to demand. The digital soil and land resources database will be further developed to be able to produce timely quality products.

· In a merged entity (KARI-Land Resources and Analytical Services), soil fertility appraisals, tissue analyses and other services leading to sound soil fertility management and land use recommendations will be offered at commercial rates to a variety of clients from NARL and a number of Kenya-wide KARI laboratories under NARL guidance.

· The programme will encourage formation of working partnerships within KARI and with other development partners who are involved in all areas of soil and water management.

Other information:

The soil and water management programme has produced a lot of publications for all levels of readership over the years which can be found in KARI libraries, KARI centres and in scientific journals. The most recent publications include a special issue of the East African Agricultural and Forestry Journal (Vol. 65 nos. 1&2), a Fertiliser Use Manual ISBN No. 9966-879-40-40, Managing African's Soils series No. 26, a technical series no. 10 on Acidic Soils in Kenya: Constraints and remedial options, and many extension leaflets and bulletins.

The Institute runs soils and tissue analytical laboratories in most of the Centres for a fee. Visit any of the Centres and you will be assisted in having your samples analysed.