000 03627nab a22003977a 4500
001 G94535
003 MX-TxCIM
005 20230714232514.0
008 210714s2010 xxk|||p|op||| 00| 0 eng d
022 _a1469-4441 (Online)
022 _a0014-4797
024 8 _ahttps://doi.org/10.1017/S001447971000030X
040 _aMX-TxCIM
041 _aeng
090 _aCIS-6111
100 1 _aThierfelder, C.
_gSustainable Intensification Program
_gSustainable Agrifood Systems
_8INT2939
_9877
245 1 0 _aRotation in conservation agriculture systems of Zambia :
_beffects on soil quality and water relations
260 _aUnited Kingdom :
_bCambridge University Press,
_c2010.
500 _aPeer review
500 _aPeer-review: Yes - Open Access: Yes|http://science.thomsonreuters.com/cgi-bin/jrnlst/jlresults.cgi?PC=MASTER&ISSN=0014-4797
520 _aConservation agriculture (CA) systems are based on minimal soil disturbance, crop residue retention and crop rotation. Although the capacity of rotations to break pest and disease cycles is generally recognized, other benefits of crop rotations in CA systems are seldom acknowledged and little understood. We monitored different conventional and CA cropping systems over the period from 2005 to 2009 in a multi-seasonal trial in Monze, southern Zambia. Both monocropped maize and different maize rotations including cotton and the green manure cover crop sunnhemp (Crotalaria juncea) were compared under CA conditions, with the aim of elucidating the effects of crop rotations on soil quality, soil moisture relations and maize productivity. Infiltration, a sensitive indicator of soil quality, was significantly lower on conventionally ploughed plots in all cropping seasons compared to CA plots. Higher water infiltration rate led to greater soil moisture content in CA maize treatments seeded after cotton. Earthworm populations, total carbon and aggregate stability were also significantly higher on CA plots. Improvements in soil quality resulted in higher rainfall use efficiency and higher maize grain yield on CA plots especially those in a two- or three-year rotation. In the 2007/08 and 2008/2009 season, highest yields were obtained from direct-seeded maize after sunnhemp, which yielded 74% and 136% more than maize in the conventionally ploughed control treatment with a continuous maize crop. Even in a two-year rotation (maize-cotton), without a legume green manure cover crop, 47% and 38% higher maize yields were recorded compared to maize in the conventionally ploughed control in the two years, respectively. This suggests that there are positive effects from crop rotations even in the absence of disease and pest problems. The overall profitability of each system will, however, depend on markets and prices, which will guide the farmer's decision on which, if any, rotation to choose.
536 _aConservation Agriculture Program
546 _aText in English
594 _aINT2939
650 7 _2AGROVOC
_92619
_aConservation agriculture
650 7 _2AGROVOC
_917435
_aConventional farming
650 7 _2AGROVOC
_98629
_aField Experimentation
650 7 _2AGROVOC
_91270
_aSoil quality
650 7 _2AGROVOC
_96682
_aPlant water relations
650 7 _2AGROVOC
_91173
_aMaize
650 7 _2AGROVOC
_94017
_aCotton
700 1 _aWall, P.C.
_8INT0255
_93735
_gSustainable Intensification Program
773 0 _tExperimental Agriculture
_gv. 46, no. 3, p. 309-325
_dUnited Kingdom : Cambridge University Press, 2010.
_wG444498
_x0014-4797
856 4 _yAccess only for CIMMYT Staff
_uhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12665/160
942 _cJA
_2ddc
_n0
999 _c28278
_d28278