Abstract
This study mapped the agricultural researches on maize crop in Mozambique. A bibliographic research in the internet was carried out. Thus, we selected 72 studies related to maize crop in Mozambique. Descriptive statistics was used to group the studies according to year of publication and region that they cover. The main themes of the studies were grouped based on Commodity System Approach (CSA). The results point out that the scientific production on maize has relatively increased since 2011. 29% of studies address maize crop in entire country while 26% include other countries, mainly those neighbors of Mozambique. At the provincial level, Manica with 14%, Maputo with 7% and Tete with 7% are the provinces with relative high percentage of studies. Therefore, there is not relationship between the percentage of studies and the agricultural potential of the provinces in the country. The main themes of scientific production on maize are agronomic techniques for maize production (50%) and maize market issues (22%). Although post-harvest losses of maize are significant in Mozambique, only 2.8% of the studies analyzed this theme. Recently, some research on maize crop address transversal issues as environment, gender and nutrition. But the percentage of studies analyzing these themes is still low. Future studies are suggested to address themes linking transversal issues and maize crop. Maize storage and its market are other themes that deserve to be studied in the future.
Highlights
The majority of the population of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) lives in rural areas where poverty is high
As almost all of SSA rural households depend on agriculture, and given the sector's great contribution to the economy as a whole, this activity is a key sector in the region's economic development (Christiaensen, 2017)
The paper has potential to illustrate if the main themes that are researched are linked to main problems associated with maize crop in the country
Summary
The majority of the population of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) lives in rural areas where poverty is high. Despite the priority given to research on maize, the yield of this crop (1.2 ton/ha) remains lower than its potential. According to IIAM and FAEF (2010), the potential of maize yield in Mozambique is between 5-8 (ton/ha). It means that maize yield in Mozambique is about 15%-24% of its potential It takes about 15 years since maize has been elected to be priority in agricultural research agenda. The paper has potential to illustrate if the main themes that are researched are linked to main problems associated with maize crop in the country. It will highlight the gaps of the current research on maize crop. The results may be used to guide future researches on maize crop in Mozambique in the main aspects that are currently less studied
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