Equation Chapter 1 Section 1 Corn Suitability Rating for Southern Highland Zone of Tanzania - A Feasibility Assessment at the TARI-Uyole, Mbeya, Tanzania

Corn productivity indices (CSR2T) for representative soils in the Southern Highland Zone of Tanzania were developed. The approaches used were derived from Iowa State University’s CSR2. Consistent with ISU, index points were applied to the pedon based on the USDA Soil Taxonomy subgroup, family particle size class, and available water holding capacity, solum depth and resilience to degradation characterizations. Additional index points were applied based on field conditions especially slope, erosion history and flooding or ponding risk in order to determine the inherent productivity potential of the soils in the work sites. The results were used to develop the Corn Suitability Rating in Tanzania (CSR2T) for the soil settings of Southern Highlands. Sites’ characterization results were linked with the maize field experimental results from 2003 to 2016 to determine the inherent corn productivity indices for the sites. The soils were found to have CSR2T values of 72, 56, 62 and 48 for Uyole, Mbimba, Inyala and Seatondale farms, respectively. The soils of Seatondale were observed to be more limited by water holding capacity. However, generally the study soils are observed to have good pedogenic potential for corn productivity and very minimal pedogenic limitations for corn productivity. The most serious limitation seems to be low water holding capacity.