Effect of conservation agriculture on maize production in Samia Sub County of Busia County Kenya

This study sought to establish the effect of conservation agriculture practices on maize production in Samia Sub County. The study sought to establish the effects of conservation agriculture on maize production guided by three specific objectives namely: effect of minimum tillage, mulching and use of cover crops on maize production within Samia Sub County. The study used descriptive design since it encouraged the use of multiple worldviews by combining inductive and deductive thinking. This design also facilitated the description of the effects of conservation agriculture practices employed in maize production. Purposive sampling was used to collect data from 252 respondents who were chosen using purposive sampling from two groups namely; small holder farmers and community facilitators and agricultural extension officers. Data collection instruments included a questionnaire for farmers and a key informant(s) interview guide Data collected was cleaned, coded and analyzed with the aid of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences and the results presented in frequency distribution tables and narratives organized and discussed under the specific objectives of the study. The findings of the study revealed that there was an increase in maize production when minimum tillage and use of cover crops was employed whereas mulching had little or no effect on the increase of maize production in Samia Sub County. The major challenge faced by the small holder farmers‘ respondents was pest and weed control in their farms with lack of fences affecting the few that practiced mulching. The study recommended the following to ensure increased production: formation of small farmer groups to enable them access information easily from them the agricultural extension officer and the community facilitators, adoption of the push pull technology to combat weed and pest infestation of their maize fields and finally fencing off of pieces of land under maize crop to avoid destruction from foraging animals.