Methodological development in linking farmer participatory research with simulation modelling for improvemed resource management and productivity in Southern Zimbabwe

Abstract

This report outlines a methodology whereby whole farm fertiliser and crop management strategies for maize based systems, are jointly developed and evaluated by communal farmer and researchers with the assistance of a simulation model. The decision making process by the farmers is documented and the management scenarios pre-tested using the APSIM (Agricultural Production Systems Simulator) farming systems model over a range of seasons to provide information on possible outcomes. With this information and increased farmer participation in developing plausible simulations, farmers and researchers are able to explore targeted options for the maximum use of scarce resources for optimal yields. This methodology is only in it's infancy, but provides a means to review and develop, alternative soil fertility technologies and the constraints to agricultural production in the low fertility, climatically variable environments of southern Zimbabwe.