Rotation effects of grain legumes and fallow on maize yield,microbial biomass and chemical properties of an Alfisol in the Nigerian savanna |
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| Authors: | AA Yusuf RC Abaidoo ENO Iwuafor OO Olufajo N Sanginga |
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| Institution: | 1. Soil Science Department, Faculty of Agriculture/Institute for Agricultural Research, Ahmadu Bello University, P.M.B. 1044, Samaru, Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria;2. International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), P.M.B. 5320, Ibadan, Nigeria;3. Agronomy Department, Institute for Agricultural Research, Ahmadu Bello University, P.M.B. 1044, Samaru, Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria;4. Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute of CIAT (TSBF-CIAT), P.O. Box 30677, Nairobi, Kenya;1. University of Embu, P. O. Box 6, 60100, Embu, Kenya;2. KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200E, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium;3. Kenyatta University, P. O. Box 43844-00100, Nairobi, Kenya;1. Key Laboratory of Mollisols Agroecology, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Harbin 150081, China;2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China;3. Heihe Branch of Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Heihe 164300, China;1. Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, 110 012, India;2. Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal, India;1. Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, Regional Research Centre, P.O. Box 1490, Kisumu, Kenya;2. Plant Production Systems, Department of Plant Sciences, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 430, 6700 AK Wageningen, The Netherlands;3. Soil, Crop and Climate Sciences, University of the Free State, P.O. Box 339, Bloemfontein 9300, South Africa;4. International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan, Oyo State PMB5320, Nigeria;1. Soils and Crops Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 2560 Hochelaga Boulevard, Quebec City, QC, Canada G1V 2J3;2. Brandon Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 2701 Grand Valley Road, PO Box 1000A, R.R. #3, Brandon, MB, Canada R7A 5Y3;3. Potato Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 850 Lincoln Road, PO Box 20280, Fredericton, NB, Canada E3B 4Z7;4. Lacombe Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 6000C and E Trail, Lacombe, AB, Canada T4L 1W1;5. Lethbridge Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 5401-1 Avenue South, PO Box 3000, Lethbridge, AB, Canada T1J 4B1;6. Scott Research Farm, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, PO Box 10, Scott, SK, Canada SOK 4A0;7. Semiarid Prairie Agricultural Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, PO Box 1030, Swift Current, SK, Canada S9H 3X2;8. Indian Head Research Farm, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, PO Box 760, R.R. #1 Gov Road, Indian Head, SK, Canada S0G 2K0;1. Centre for the Research and Technology of Agro-Environmental and Biological Sciences (CITAB-UTAD), Quinta de Prados, 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal;2. Laboratoire de Géologie, PSL Research University, UMR 8538 CNRS–ENS, 24 rue Lhomond, 75231 Paris cedex 05, France;3. Universidad Pública de Navarra, Departamento Ciencias del Medio Natural, ETSIA, Campus Arrosadia, 31006 Pamplona, Spain |
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| Abstract: | Understanding changes in soil chemical and biological properties is important in explaining the mechanism involved in the yield increases of cereals following legumes in rotation. Field trials were conducted between 2003 and 2005 to compare the effect of six 2-year rotations involving two genotypes each of cowpea (IT 96D-724 and SAMPEA-7) and soybean (TGx 1448-2E and SAMSOY-2), a natural bush fallow and maize on soil microbial and chemical properties and yield of subsequent maize. Changes in soil pH, total nitrogen (Ntot), organic carbon (Corg), water soluble carbon (WSC), microbial biomass carbon (Cmic) and nitrogen (Nmic) were measured under different cropping systems. Cropping sequence has no significant (P > 0.05) effect on soil pH and Corg, while WSC increased significantly when maize followed IT 96D-724 (100%), SAMPEA-7 (95%), TGx 1448-2E (79%) and SAMSOY-2 (106%) compared with continuous maize. On average, legume rotation caused 23% increase in Ntot relative to continuous maize. The Cmic and Nmic values were significantly affected by cropping sequence. The highest values were found in legume–maize rotation and the lowest values were found in fallow–maize and continuous maize. On average, Cmic made up to 4.8% of Corg and Nmic accounted for 4.4% of Ntot under different cropping systems. Maize grain yield increased significantly following legumes and had strong positive correlation with Cmic and Nmic suggesting that they are associated with yield increases due to other rotation effects. Negative correlation of grain yield with Cmic:Nmic and Corg:Ntot indicate that high C:N ratios contribute to nitrogen immobilization in the soil and are detrimental to crop productivity. The results showed that integration of grain legumes will reverse this process and ensure maintenance of soil quality and maize crop yield, which on average, increased by 68% and 49% following soybean and cowpea, respectively compared to continuous maize. |
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