Long-term impact of a gliricidia-maize intercropping system on carbon sequestration in southern Malawi |
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| Institution: | 1. World Agroforestry Center, SADC-ICRAF Agroforestry Programme, Chitedze Agricultural Research Station, P.O. Box 30798, Lilongwe, Malawi;2. Department of Soil Quality, Wageningen University and Research Center, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands;1. Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA;2. AB Envirosolutions, Calgary, AB, Canada;3. Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA;4. World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Nairobi, Kenya;1. CIRAD, UR Agro-Ecology and Sustainable Intensification of Annual Crops (AIDA), University of Montpellier, 34398 Montpellier, France;2. CIMMYT, Sustainable Intensification Program (SIP), P.O. Box 1041–00621, Gigiri, Nairobi, Kenya;3. University of Zimbabwe, Crop Science Department, Box MP167, Mt. Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe;4. Embrapa Cerrados, Rodovia BR-020, Km 18, P.O. Box 08223, CEP: 73310-970, Planaltina, DF, Brazil;1. Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Science, University of Rostock, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 6, D-18051 Rostock, Germany;2. Institute of Crop Production and Agricultural Economics Science, Research Centre for Agriculture and Fishery, Dorfplatz 1, 18276 Gülzow-Prüzen, Germany;1. Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Agronómica y de Montes, Universidad de Córdoba, Spain;2. European Conservation Agriculture Federation (ECAF), Brussels, Belgium;3. Asociación Española Agricultura de Conservación. Suelos Vivos (AEAC.SV), Cordoba, Spain;4. Centre for Environmental Policy, South Kensington Campus, Imperial College London, UK;5. Area of Ecological Production and Natural Resources, IFAPA Centro Alameda del Obispo, Cordoba, Spain;6. School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, Reading University, UK;7. African Conservation Tillage Network. P. O. Box 10375, 00100, Nairobi, Kenya |
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| Abstract: | Tree/crop systems under agroforestry practice are capable of sequestering carbon (C) in the standing biomass and soil. Although studies have been conducted to understand soil organic C increases in some agroforestry technologies, little is known about C sequestered in simultaneous tree/crop intercropping systems. The main objective of this study was to determine the effect of agroforestry practice on C sequestration and CO2-C efflux in a gliricidia-maize intercropping system. The experiment was conducted at an experimental site located at the Makoka Agricultural Research Station, in Malawi. The studies involved two field plots, 7-year (MZ21) and 10-year (MZ12), two production systems (sole-maize and gliricidia-maize simultaneous intercropping systems). A 7-year-old grass fallow (Grass-F) was also included. Gliricidia prunings were incorporated at each time of tree pruning in the gliricidia-maize. The amount of organic C recycled varied from 0.8 to 4.8 Mg C ha?1 in gliricidia-maize and from 0.4 to 1.0 Mg C ha?1 in sole-maize. In sole-maize, net decreases of soil carbon of 6 Mg C ha?1 at MZ12 and 7 Mg C ha?1 at MZ21 in the topsoil (0–20 cm) relative to the initial soil C were observed. After 10 years of continuous application of tree prunings C was sequestered in the topsoil (0–20 cm) in gliricidia-maize was 1.6 times more than in sole-maize. A total of 123–149 Mg C ha?1 were sequestered in the soil (0–200 cm depth), through root turnover and pruning application in the gliricidia-maize system. Carbon dioxide evolution varied from 10 to 28 kg ha?1 day?1 in sole-maize and 23 to 83 kg ha?1 day?1 in gliricidia-maize. We concluded that gliricidia-maize intercropping system could sequester more C in the soil than sole-maize. |
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