@article{Mhlanga:198414,
      recid = {198414},
      author = {Mhlanga, Blessing and Muoni, Tarirai},
      title = {Crop Residue Management in Conservation Agriculture  Systems in Zimbabwe Smallholder Farming Sector: Importance,  Management Challenges and Possible Solutions},
      journal = {Asian Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development},
      address = {2014-05},
      number = {393-2016-23924},
      series = {3-460-AJARD-4(5)2014-333-340},
      pages = {8},
      year = {2014},
      abstract = {Conservation agriculture (CA) is promoted as a cropping  system that has potential to alleviate poor crop yields in  smallholder farming while protecting the environment. It  involves maintenance of permanent soil cover, diverse crop  rotations and/or interactions; and minimum soil  disturbance. CA is associated with crop residue management  challenges due to low crop biomass yields and  crop-livestock interactions in Zimbabwean smallholder  farming sector. There is competition on crop residue uses  causing challenges in retaining adequate crop residues for  full benefits of using residues to be realised. Among the  crop residues management options fencing fields reduces the  chances of crop residues grazing by free roaming cattle  during the dry season. Construction of rakes to pile up  crop residues where cattle cannot access has been practiced  in some communal areas. Farmers have practised the system  of taking the crop residue harvest to homesteads into  protected areas to reduce risk of grazing. Farmers may use  fences around fields to reduce access into fields. However,  all these management options require an investment from the  farmers who are resource constrained. Farmers may use  non-crop residues such as thatch grass and reduce  competition for crop residue use where farmers feed them to  livestock during the dry season.},
      url = {http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/198414},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.198414},
}