Forage legumes exhibit a differential potential to compete against maize and weeds and to restore soil fertility in a maize-forage legume intercrop
Date
2021-11-16
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Taylor & Francis Group - Informa UK Limited
Abstract
Integrating forage legumes with maize has the potential to restore soil fertility and increase grain yield among smallholder farming systems. A study was conducted over two cropping seasons to determine the effect of intercropping maize with forage legumes on soil fertility restoration, weed biomass and maize yield. Treatments involved: four cropping systems (sole maize, maize-velvet bean, maize-silverleaf, maize-cowpeas) and four fertiliser regimes (no fertiliser, 150 kg ha−1 of compound D fertiliser (7% N: 14% P2O5: 7% K2O) + 150 kg ha−1 ammonium nitrate (34.5% N), 100 kg ha−1 single super phosphate (SSP, 17.5% P2O5) and 200 kg ha−1 SSP). Maize-velvet bean intercropping reduced weed biomass by 80% relative to sole maize and maize-silverleaf intercropping. Maize-cowpea and maize-velvet bean intercropping reduced maize grain yield by 25.9% and 64.7%, respectively, compared to sole maize and maize-silverleaf intercropping. In 2017/2018, maize-silverleaf intercropping increased resin-extractable P2O5 by 60.1% compared to other cropping systems while the three fertiliser treatments increased the levels of this nutrient by 41.9–100%. The results of this study show that intercropping maize with silverleaf has the potential to restore soil fertility and control weeds, without reducing maize grain yield.
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Acknowledgements: This work was successful with the support of Chinhoyi University of Technology. The authors would like to extend their profound gratitude to the staff at the Chinhoyi University of Technology Hunyani farm for assisting with the implementation and management of the field trials during the two cropping seasons. The Version of Scholarly Record of this Article is published in Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica, Section B — Soil & Plant Science, 2021, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/09064710.2021.1998593 . © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Keywords: intercropping; legume biomasses; maize grain yield;
soil fertility restoration; weed biomass; Africa; Zimbabwe.
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Marilyn Kutamahufa, Lincon Matare, Gabriel Soropa, Nilton Mashavakure, Ezekia Svotwa, & Arnold B. Mashingaidze (2022) Forage legumes exhibit a differential potential to compete against maize and weeds and to restore soil fertility in a maize-forage legume intercrop, Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica, Section B — Soil & Plant Science, 72:1, 127-141, DOI: 10.1080/09064710.2021.1998593