Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T15:22:36.187Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Rotation responses of cotton in the Sudan Gezira: II. The effect of fertilizer nitrogen on the reponse to rotation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

J. E. Jackson  and
H. O. Burhan
J. E. Jackson
Affiliation:
Gezira Research Station, Wad Medani, Sudan
H. O. Burhan
Affiliation:
Gezira Research Station, Wad Medani, Sudan
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

The interactions between nitrogen fertilizer and crop rotations in their effects on the yield of cotton in the Sudan were studied by superimposing fertilizer treatments on a rotation experiment which was already more than 30 years old. This experiment compared ten rotations comprising various combinations of cotton with fallow and an alternating crop of dura (a sorghum millet) and lubia (Dolichos lablab. L.). The results support the concept that low basic yields in the absence of a nitrogen dressing are primarily due to nitrogen deficiency. In general the response to nitrogen was greater on rotations which led to low yields of cotton so that rotational effects were greatly reduced or eliminated when a nitrogen dressing was given. Although in some cases cotton following fallow out-yielded cotton following dura, in general rotations containing dura and lubia gave higher yields of cotton than rotations with the same intensity of cotton cropping combined with fallows only. These beneficial effects of other crops instead of fallows in the rotation, although not in agreement with the long-term averages wereto be expected from the long-term trends in yields with time. Combined with the finding that even the most adverse effects of dura could be largely compensated for by a fertilizer dressing, this indicates that cropping in the Gezira could be considerably intensified without loss of cotton yield per acre per year. The difficulties of such intensification would centre around weed, disease and pest control rather than soil fertility. Further experiments are required to determine the fertilizer nitrogen requirements of cotton following different crops.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 70 , Issue 3 , June 1968 , pp. 257 - 263
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1968

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

Beam, W. (1911). Report of the chemical section. 4th Rep. Well. Trop. Res. Lab.vol. B, 23–72.Google Scholar
Burhan, H. O.Mansi, M. G. (1967). Rotation responses of cotton in the Sudan Gezira. I. The effect of crop rotation on cotton yields. J. agric. Sci., Camb. 68, 255–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crowther, F. (1948). In Agriculture in the Sudan, p. 456 (ed. Tothill, J. D.). Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Crowther, F.Cochran, W. G. (1942). Rotation experiments with cotton in the Sudan Gezira. J. agric. Sci., Camb. 32, 90–405.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dutta, Roy D. K.Kordofani, A. Y. (1961). Study of long term rotation effects in the Sudan Gezira. J.agric. Sci., Camb. 57, 387–92.Google Scholar
Ferguson, H., Kordofani, A. Y. & Roberts, P. (1960). Fallow hoeing in rotations in the Sudan Gezira. J. agric. Sci., Camb. 55, 143–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gaitskell, A. (1959) Gezira. London: Faber and Faber.Google Scholar
Greene, H. & Snow, O. W. (1948). In Agriculture in the Sudan, p. 457 (ed. Tothill, J. D.). Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Jackson, J. E. (1963). Seasonal variation in yield and quality of cotton. Ann. appl. Biol. 51, 519–22.Google Scholar