Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T14:16:57.550Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Alley Farming with Leucaena: Effect of Short Grazed Fallows on Soil Fertility and Crop Yields

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 October 2008

A. N. Atta-Krah
A. N. Atta-Krah
Affiliation:
International Livestock Centre for Africa (ILCA), Ibadan, Nigeria
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

A long-term trial with Leucaena leucocephala was initiated in 1982 to test the sustainability of Leucaena-based alley farming compared to a conventional cropping system without trees and with continuous cultivation of maize. It assessed the integration of short grazed fallows in rotation within Leucaena alleys and their effect on soil fertility and crop yields.

The various treatments had no effect on soil pH during the four-year period of the trial. The organic carbon and total nitrogen contents of the soils under conventional cropping were lower by the end of the fourth year than those under alley cropping and alley grazing treatments, whereas soil phosphorus levels were lower in the alley cropping and grazing plots. Foliage dry matter production of Leucaena under alley cropping management ranged from 6.0 to 6.7 t ha−1 a−1 under continuous cropping and reached 8 t ha−1 when alley cropping was preceded by a grazed fallow. Crop yields were consistently higher with alley cropping than with conventional cropping. Alley cropping plots in rotation with two year grazed fallows gave significantly higher crop yields during cropping years than those under continuous cultivation.

Type
Research Article
Information
Experimental Agriculture , Volume 26 , Issue 1 , January 1990 , pp. 1 - 10
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Arora, S. K. & Joshi, U. N. (1986). Lignification of Leucaena leaves during growth and its relationship with mimosine content. Leucaena Research Reports 7:34–35.Google Scholar
Atta-Krah, A. N. & Okali, D. U. U. (1986). Woody plants, environmental stability and agricultural productivity in tropical Africa. Invited paper for the Advisory Group Meeting on Use of Nuclear Techniques in Studying the Roles of Trees in Restoring and Maintaining Soil Fertility. IAEA, Vienna, Austria, 24–2811 1986.Google Scholar
Atta-Krah, A. N., Sumberg, J. E. & Reynolds, L. (1986). Leguminous fodder trees in the farming system: An overview of research at the Humid Zone Programme of ILCA in southwest Nigeria. Proceedings of a Workshop on Potential of Forage Legumes in Farming Systems of Sub-Saharan Africa, ILCA, Addis Ababa, 16–19 09 1985.Google Scholar
Getahun, A., Wilson, G. F. & Kang, B. T. (1982). The role of trees in farming systems of the humid tropics. In Agroforestry in the African Humid Tropics (Ed. by MacDonald, L. H.). Proceedings of a Workshop held at Ibadan, Nigeria, 27 04–1 05 1981.Google Scholar
Kang, B. T., Grimme, H. & Lawson, T. L. (1985). Alley cropping sequentially cropped maize and cowpea with Leucaena on a sandy soil in Southern Nigeria. Plant and Soil 85:267–277.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kang, B. T., Wilson, G. F. & Sipkens, L. (1981 a). Alley cropping maize (Zea mays L.) and leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala LAM) in southern Nigeria. Plant and Soil 63:165–179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kang, B. T., Sipkens, L., Wilson, G. F. & Nandju, D. (1981 b). Leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala (LAM) de Wit) prunings as a nitrogen source for maize (Zea mays L). Fertilizer Research 2:279–287.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lal, R., Wilson, G. F. & Okigbo, B. N. (1978). No-till farming after various grasses and leguminous cover crops in tropical alfisol, 1. Crop performance. Field Crops Research 1:71–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ruthenberg, H. (1976). Farming Systems in the Tropics. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Sumberg, J. E. (1985). Small ruminant feed production in a farming systems context. In Sheep and Goats in Humid West Africa. Proceedings of a Workshop held at ILCA, Ibadan, Nigeria, 23–2601 1984.Google Scholar
Wilson, G. F. & Kang, B. T. (1980). Developing stable and productive biological cropping systems for the humid tropics. Proceedings of a Workshop on Biological Husbandry: A Scientific Approach to Organic Farming, 28–3008 1980, Wye College, London.Google Scholar