widescale use of gramoxone (paraquat) were popular. During
crop growth, weed control was generally by hoeing. In Trinidad,
however, inter-row cultivation using a rototiller mounted on a
hand tractor and the application of Gramoxone with a shield
were sometimes used.

Fertilization
 The maintenance of soil fertility varied with location and crop.
Compound fertilizers, mainly 13:13:20 in Trinidad and 15:15:15
in Guyana, were widely used. Many farmers also used supplimen-
tary nitrogen fertilizer and in Trinidad foliar application of
nutrients to vegetables was widespread. The unavailability of fer-
tilizers in Guyana limited their use. In both territories fertilizer
used was based mainly on experience since fertilizer recommen-
dations were lacking. Organic matter was used by about 30% of
the farmers for vegetable cultivation in both countries. Lime was
used by 10% and 30% of the farmers interviewed in Trinidad
and Guyana, respectively. Several placement methods were used
for fertilizer and pen manure, viz., broadcast (rice); band (sugar
cane); holes (vegetables and root crops); side dressing (vegetables
and root crops) and circle (tree crops). Manure and lime were
generally incorporated into the soil before planting.
Farmers rested the land for 6 to 24 months to rebuild soil fertility
during bad weather, or when they could not cultivate all their
land.

Water Management
 The farmers interviewed were all aware of water management
problems. In all areas farmers paid special attention to drainage
and employed a range of bed/drain layouts. These included:
cambered beds (4 to 8m wide); ridges (0.75 to 2m wide) on flat
land or along cambered beds; flat beds (1.5 to 4m) with box
drains between beds (i. e. drains that are square or rectangular in
cross section); and ridges and furrows on flat beds with field
drains between beds.
 The reasons given by the farmers for the use of the bed system
include:
 1. Tradition,
 2. To provide extra drainage,
 3. To provide access for crop culture, and
 4. To limit compaction in cropped areas.
Farmers complained of the costs of constructing and maintaining
infield drains and the lack of maintenance of main drains by the
relevant authorities.
 All farmers interviewed in Guyana used some form of irriga-
tion during the dry season. Fifty percent (50%) of farmers inter-
viewed in Trinidad had access to irrigation water, but the
distribution of water was a major problem in all areas.
 Several farmers (20% in Trinidad and 30% in Guyana) owned
pumps which were mainly used for lifting water from the canal
onto the field. Hoses, buckets and watering cans were then used
for applying water to vegetable crops. Flood irrigation was used in
eddoes and rice production, but furrow irrigation was absent as



TABLE 1. Effect of mulch and tillage on cowpea seed yields on a loam in 1981.


 Seed yield kg ha-1
 Tillage
 Trial I Trial II

 Hand rototilled 937.0 1080.3
 No-till bare 1013.0 709.5
 No-till & mulch 732.3 730.3
 LSD (0.05) 203.9 237.3


the land was not graded to accommodate this practice. Approx-
imately 87% of the farmers interviewed in Guyana used grass
mulch for moisture conservation. Lack of irrigation was cited as a
major constraint to dry season cropping.

Research Needs for Soil and Water Management
 In view of the survey findings, and our knowledge of the other
problems encountered by small farmers on heavy soils in the
Caribbean, there is a pressing need for investigations of the
following:
 1. The frequency with which conventional tillage is required;
 2. The zonal tillage vs. conventional tillage concept to deter-
 mine the minimum soil disturbance needed to provide a
 suitable seedbed;
 3. The benefits and the optimum amounts of mulch required
 under various situations for soil and water conservation;
 4. The potential of animal drawn implements for tillage and
 weed control in energy deficient territories;
 5. Comparisons of the various methods of fertilizer and
 manure application for the various tillage methods;
 6. Timing, rates and frequency of fertilizer and manure ap-
 plication for the various tillage/soil management cropping
 systems;
 7. Suitable crop rotations to maintain soil fertility and sup-
 press the build-up of weeds, pests and diseases; and
 8. The timing of application of the minimum amount of ir-
 rigation for economic, dry season crop production.

RESULTS
 A research program, with financial assistance from the Swedish
Agency for Research Cooperation with Developing Countries
(SAREC), was initiated at the University of the West Indies to in-
vestigate some of the research needs listed above. Two aspects of
the research program are reported in this paper:
 1. The effect of tillage, mulching and field layout (infield
 drainage systems) on the performance of two test crops,
 cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) and maize (Zea mays); and
 2. The testing of a soil and crop management system suitable
 for the production of maize and cowpea by small farmers
 on the Frontland Clay Soils of Guyana, under the rainfall
 regime of coastal Guyana.
 Our research to date provides some information of crop perfor-
mance with reduced tillage under local conditions. In Trinidad
on a loam soil (Orthoxic tropudult), yields of a cowpea without
tillage were as good as, or better than, tilling with a hand
rototiller (Table 1). However, on a clay loam soil (Aquic
eutropept) with impeded drainage, cowpea growth and yield
were similar under no-tillage and conventional tillage (disc
ploughing and rototilling) during the wet season (Table 2). In an
earlier study with maize grown on clay loam in the wet season,
yields were better with ploughing and rototilling than no-tillage
or tillage with a hand tractor (Lindsay et al., 1983). This may have
been the result of the better drainage with conventional tillage.



TABLE 2. Yellow seed yield (kg/ha) of cowpea under two tillage regimes on
Cunupia clay loam.


 Tillage treatment Pod yield

 Disc plough and rotovate 1102.3
 No-till and mulch 1028.6

 (P = 0.05) NS


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