Strip Micro-catchment Technique to Improve Crop Production in Rainfed Lands

The project utilized rainwater harvesting to increase crop yield and improves crop resilience to drought. A field experiment was carried out to evaluate the use of microcatchment rainwater harvesting (MC-RWH) in the form of strip cropping for production of three varieties of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus), zucchini using crop to catchment area of 1:1 (MC1) and 1:2 (MC2), then compared to farmer’s common practice of continuous planting. Okra was planted in a strip of 1-m wide and 20 m long followed by 1-m strip or 2-m strip fallow area for runoff generation. Results revealed that MC-RWH improved soil moisture along the entire season compared to control and the increase was more for MC2. The average fruit yield of okra in the control plots was 4010 kg/ha and increased to 5789 t/ha and 6069 t/ha for MC1 and MC2, respectively. The corresponding values for the dry matter yield were 2632 t/ha for the control and increased to 3145 t/ha and 3648 t/ha for MC1 and MC2, respectively. Yield differences among verities were negligible for control plots but in the case of RWH the Clemson spineless 80 verity gave higher yield.