Tillage,crop residue,legume rotation,and green manure effects on sorghum and millet yields in the semiarid tropics of Mali |
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Authors: | Kouyaté Zoumana Franzluebbers Kathrin Juo Anthony SR Hossner Lloyd R |
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Institution: | (1) Cinzana Research Station, Institute of Rural Economy (IER), Cinzana, Segou, Mali;(2) Department of Soil & Crop Sciences, Texas A&M University and Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, College Station, Texas 77843-2474, USA |
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Abstract: | Alternative soil management practices are needed in semi-arid West Africa to sustain soil fertility and cereal production
while reducing the need for extended fallow periods and chemical fertilizers. An experiment was conducted at the Cinzana Station
near Segou, Mali to assess the effects of tillage, crop residue incorporation and legume rotation on the growth and yield
of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) and pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum L.) for a period of eight years on a loamy sand and a loam soil. The following treatments were compared under tied ridging
and the traditional open ridging: continuous cereal with crop residue removed, continuous cereal with crop residue incorporated,
cereal in rotation with cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Waip.), cereal in rotation with sesbania (Sesbania rostrata Bremek. & Oberm.), and cereal in rotation with dolichos (Dolichos lablab L.). Legumes in rotation were incorporated as green manures except cowpea which was removed after each harvest. Tied ridging
improved cereal grain yield from 1022 kg ha−1 with open ridging to 1091 kg ha−1 on the loamy sand and from 1554 kg ha−1 to 1697 kg ha−1 on the loam, when averaged across management regimes and years of cropping. Incorporation of cereal residue at the beginning
of the rainy season every other year had only small and inconsistent effects on cereal yield. Rotation with cowpea increased
cereal grain and stover yields by 18 and 25%, respectively, on the loamy sand, and by 23% and 27%, respectively, on the loam
compared to continuous cereal, when averaged across tillage regimes and years. Sesbania and dolichos performed similarly as
green manures on both soils. Incorporation of these legumes as green manure at the end of the rainy season increased cereal
grain and stover yields by 37% and 49%, respectively, on the loamy sand, and by 27% and 30%, respectively, on the loam, compared
to cereal monoculture without organic amendment, when averaged across tillage regimes and years. A significant linear increase
in cereal yield was observed during the eight years of the study on the loam soil when sesbania and dolichos green manures
were incorporated.
This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date. |
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Keywords: | cowpea crop rotation dolichos green manure pearl millet Sahel sorghum tied ridging West Africa |
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