Enhancing maize productivity with compost manure and planting pits in the semi-arid region of Zimbabwe

Smallholder farmers in semi-arid areas depend on rainfed agriculture, which is limited by low total rainfall received, uneven distribution, and soil infertility. There is need for smallholder farmers in semi-arid areas to adopt the use of organic amendments. The objective of the study was to assess the combined effects of compost, tillage practice, and maize variety on grain yield, agronomic efficiency (AE), and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) in semi-arid Zimbabwe. The experiment was laid in a randomised complete block design (RCBD) with treatments arranged in split plot. The experiment used conservation tillage as the main plot factor at three levels (planting pit (PP), mulched planting pit (MPP), and conventional tillage (CT) as a control). Compost manure was used as a sub-plot factor at three levels (0, 2.5, and 5 t ha ^− 1 ) and maize variety as a sub-sub plot factor at two levels (SC419 and SC555). Interactive effects of 5t ha ^− 1 compost, MPP, and SC417 had the highest grain yield of 7109.9kg ha ^− 1 which was significant when compared with other treatments under CT and PP. Increasing application rate of compost enhance AE which was significant (p < 0.05) when compared to treatments under MPP which had highest AE of 1.18kg kg ^− 1 during a wetter 2024/25 season. Furthermore, NUE was also influenced significantly with use of 5t ha ^− 1 compost, MPP, and SC419 during 2024/25 cropping season showing a highest value of 47.38kg kg ^− 1 . Smallholder farmers are recommended to adopt 5t ha ^− 1 compost, MPP, and SC419 to increase food security, AE, and NUE.