Enhancing The Status Of Indigenous Vegetables Through Use Of Kraal Manure Substitutes And Intercropping

Abstract

This study was conducted at Richards Bay in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa during the 1997-1998 and 2001-2002 cropping seasons. It was motivated by the observation that indigenous food crops, including vegetables, seem to be suffering from low acceptability status in contemporary society in rural northern KwaZulu-Natal. The study was an attempt to contribute towards alleviation of the problem through increasing yields of the indigenous crops without extraordinary efforts. It used a participatory approach between researchers and rural women. A field investigation was carried out to study the impact of organic manure in agricultural systems yielding cassava, maize, beans and amaranthus (morogo). Manure application substantially increased crop yield. There was a significant reduction in seed yield of both maize and bean plants that were inter-cropped with cassava. Cassava intercropped with beans recorded a higher tuber yield than that of isolated cassava monocultures during the year 2002. There was a significant reduction in tuber yield of cassava due to intercropping with maize. These results suggest that indigenous vegetables should be cultivated on a large scale in order to solve the problem of the low acceptability status of indigenous foods..

Keywords: Amaranthus, bean, cassava, intercropping, maize, manure, indigenous crops and vegetable.

Indilinga Vol. 7 (2) 2008: pp. 211-222