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On-farm evaluation of ridging and residue management options in a Sahelian millet-cowpea intercrop. 1. Soil quality changes (2002)

Bielders, C.L. ; Michels, K. ; Bationo, A.

Oxford, UK : Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Soil use and management 18 (2002), S. 0

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ISSN: 1475-2743

Source: Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005

Topics: Geosciences , Agriculture, Forestry, Horticulture, Fishery, Domestic Science, Nutrition

Notes: Abstract. In the Sahel, promising technologies for agricultural intensification include millet stover mulching and ridging. A four year on-farm experiment was set-up in order to assess the effect of various combinations of these two technologies on soil chemical and physical quality in a millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.) –- cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) relay intercropping system. Treatments included bare surface, ridging, a surface applied banded millet stover mulch (2 t ha–1) and a banded millet stover mulch (2 t ha–1) buried in ridges. The latter three treatments were implemented exclusively in the cowpea rows, with an annual rotation between the millet and cowpea rows. Both the bare and ridge plots experienced a rapid loss of organic carbon, acidification and the development of extensive surface crusts but no increase in bulk density or penetration resistance. In the year of application, mulching improved soil quality in the cowpea row with respect to pH, organic carbon and exchangeable K+ and Mg++ content, penetration resistance and bulk density, and it reduced the decline in exchangeable Ca++ and total N content. In the year following mulch application, a general decline in soil chemical quality was observed in the millet row, except for organic carbon content, and a positive residual effect was observed on penetration resistance and bulk density. As a rule, the effects of mulching in the year of application tended to be stronger in the ridged treatment with buried residue than in the banded surface mulch. In the year following application, this tendency was reversed. For the purpose of reducing soil degradation by nutrient mining and wind erosion, a banded surface mulch therefore appeared more effective than buried mulch.

Type of Medium: Electronic Resource

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-2743.2002.tb00242.x

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Cereal/legume rotation effects on cereal growth in Sudano-Sahelian West Africa: soil mineral nitrogen, mycorrhizae and nematodes (2000)

Bagayoko, M. ; Buerkert, A. ; Lung, G. ; [et al.]

Springer

Plant and soil 218 (2000), S. 103-116

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ISSN: 1573-5036

Keywords: cowpea ; cropping systems ; groundnut ; pearl millet ; sorghum

Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000

Topics: Agriculture, Forestry, Horticulture, Fishery, Domestic Science, Nutrition

Notes: Abstract Yield increases of cereals following legumes in rotation have been previously reported for West Africa, but little progress has been made to explain the mechanisms involved. At four sites in Niger and Burkina Faso, field trials with pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.), cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) and groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) were conducted from 1996 to 1998 to investigate the role of soil mineral nitrogen (Nmin), native arbuscular mycorrhizae (AM) and nematodes in cereal/legume rotations. Grain and total dry matter yields of cereals at harvest were increased by legume/cereal rotations at all sites. Soil Nmin levels in the topsoil were consistently higher in cereal plots previously sown with legumes (rotation cereals) compared with plots under continuous cereal cultivation. However, these rotation effects on Nmin were much larger with groundnut than with cowpea. Roots of rotation cereals also had higher early AM infection rates compared to continuous cereals. The dominant plant-parasitic nematodes found in all experiment fields were Helicotylenchus sp., Rotylenchus sp. and Pratylenchus sp. In sorghum/groundnut cropping systems, nematode densities were consistently lower in rotation sorghum compared to continuous sorghum. Continuous groundnut had the lowest nematode densities indicating that groundnut was a poor host for the three nematode groups. In millet/cowpea cropping systems with inherently high nematode densities, crop rotations barely affected nematode densities indicating that both crops were good hosts. These results suggest that on the nutrient poor Sudano-Sahelian soils of our study, total dry matter increases of rotation cereals compared with continuous cereals can be explained by higher Nmin and AM infection levels early in the season. The site-specific magnitude of these effects may be related to the efficiency of the legume species to suppress nematode populations and increase plant available N through N2-fixation.