Potential annual sown legumes for low-income systems in the East African highlands of Southwestern Uganda
Abstract
Models are presented which can be used to examine the suitability of annual cover legumes, in terms of their maturity period, for their potential for incorporation into the hillside farming systems of the highland regions of sub-Saharan Africa. Sites in southwestern Uganda, covering a range in elevations from 1,600 to 2,500 m and having a bi-modal rainfall distribution, were used as an exemplar. In such locations, it was evident that several of the short-day \"tropical\" species tested were ill-adapted and would be unlikely to reach pod maturity within the time available in either of the two growing seasons, particularly at higher elevations. More temperate species, particularly Vicia spp., were better adapted but delays in sowing and increasing elevation severely restricted the potential choice of an appropriate species. The flexibility of the models as potential tools for scaling-up location-specific agronomic research trials is discussed.
Citation
Keatinge, J.D.H.; Qi, A.; Wheeler, T.R.; Musitwa, F.; Kuribuza, D.; Summerfield, R.J.; Franks, N.A.P.; R. H. Ellis, R.H. Potential annual sown legumes for low-income systems in the East African highlands of Southwestern Uganda. Mountain Research and Development (1999) 19 (4) 345-353.