| Zone 2 | Zone 4 | Zone 8 | Zone 9 | Zone 12 | |
| Soil fertility | low | low | low | low | medium |
| Soil type | Cambic Areno-sols, | Orthic | Rhodic | Cambic Areno-sols, | Eutric |
| Ferralic Cambi-sols | Ferral-sols | Ferral-sols, | Fer-ralic | Nitosols | |
| Ferric luvi-sols | Cambi-sols | ||||
| low | |||||
| Water holding capacity | low | medium | medium | low | high |
| Altitude | low | medium | low-medium | medium-high | |
| Rainfall(mm) | >1000 | >1000 | 600–1000 | 600–1000 | >1000 |
| Major crops | maize, sorghum cashew, coconuts | maize, bananas, beans, finger millet | maize | maize, tobacco, cassava, sweet potatos | maize, coffee beans, finger millet |
| sunflower | |||||
| sorghum | |||||
| groundnuts | |||||
| Cropping season | Nov-Apr | Nov-Apr | Nov-Apr | Dec-Apr | Nov-Apr |
| Area | Tunduru plains NE and SE of Songea district | Songea plateau, NW and SW of songea | Songea plateau NW and SW of Songea | Tunduru plains NE and SE of Songea | Matengo highland of Mbinga district, |
Source: Samky and Harrop (1982) in Van Enckevort (1992)
