A meta-analysis of long-term effects of conservation agriculture on maize grain yield under rain-fed conditions

Conservation agriculture involves reduced tillage, permanent soil cover and crop rotations to enhance soil fertility and to supply food from a dwindling land resource. Recently, conservation agriculture has been promoted in Southern Africa, mainly for maize-based farming systems. However, maize yields under rain-fed conditions are often variable. There is therefore a need to identify factors that influence crop yield under conservation agriculture and rain-fed conditions. Here, we studied maize grain yield data from experiments lasting 5 years and more under rain-fed conditions. We assessed the effect of long-term tillage and residue retention on maize grain yield under contrasting soil textures, nitrogen input and climate. Yield variability was measured by stability analysis. Our results show an increase in maize yield over time with conservation agriculture practices that include rotation and high input use in low rainfall areas. But we observed no difference in system stability under those conditions. We observed a strong relationship between maize grain yield and annual rainfall. Our meta-analysis gave the following findings: (1) 92% of the data show that mulch cover in high rainfall areas leads to lower yields due to waterlogging; (2) 85% of data show that soil texture is important in the temporal development of conservation agriculture effects, improved yields are likely on well-drained soils; (3) 73% of the data show that conservation agriculture practices require high inputs especially N for improved yield; (4) 63% of data show that increased yields are obtained with rotation but calculations often do not include the variations in rainfall within and between seasons; (5) 56% of the data show that reduced tillage with no mulch cover leads to lower yields in semi-arid areas; and (6) when adequate fertiliser is available, rainfall is the most important determinant of yield in southern Africa. It is clear from our results that conservation agriculture needs to be targeted and adapted to specific biophysical conditions for improved impact

Crop water productivity and economic evaluation of drip-irrigated soybeans (Glyxine max L. Merr.)

Background: Effective management of water under irrigated agriculture is crucial to ensure food security. One crop that has high irrigation economic potential at local and international scales is soybean. This article presents the outcome of field experiments conducted in the dry seasons of 2013 and 2014 in Nigeria on the effects of deficit irrigation (DI) practices on reproductive stages of soybean. The experimental factor was the timing of irrigation. The five treatments were full irrigation (FI); skipping of irrigation every other week during flowering; pod initiation; seed filling and maturity stages.The crop was planted in a randomized complete block design with three replicates and inline drip irrigation was used to apply water. Leaf area index, dry above-ground biomass and seed yield were measured and the soil water balance approach was used to determine seasonal crop water use. Results: Seasonal crop water use for the treatment in which deficit irrigation was imposed at seed filling stage was 364 mm while for the control treatment with full irrigation, seasonal crop water use was 532 mm. The seed yield reduced by 18.8 and 21.9% when DI was imposed during flowering and pod initiation, respectively. Similarly, the seed yield reduced by 24.4 and 47.9% when DI was imposed during maturity and seed filling. Water productivity (WP) reduced by 6.8 and 12.4% when DI was used during flowering and pod initiation, respectively. However, WP reduced by 20 and 35% during maturity and seed filling. DI during reproductive stages reduced economic water productivity by 6.7–35% while revenue was reduced by 18.5–47.7%. Conclusions: Full irrigation should be practiced to maximize water productivity. Weekly skipping of irrigation during seed filling will substantially reduce the seed yield and water productivity while skipping during flowering may be a viable option when water is scarce and land is not limiting. Economic evaluation will guide policy makers at basin scales for formulating improved and efficient water management plans under all varying weather conditions. DI can be used to optimise water productivity. The results will be beneficial in adopting deficit irrigation in a manner that will improve economic water productivity

Soil water storage, yield, water productivity and transpiration efficiency of soybeans (Glyxine max L.Merr) as affected by soil surface management in Ile-Ife, Nigeria

Rainfed agriculture has a high yield potential if rainfall and land resources are effectively used. In this study, conventional (NC) and six in-situ water conservation practices were used to cultivate Soybean in 2011 and 2012 in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. The conservation practices are: Tied ridge (TR), Soil bund (BD), Mulch (ML), Mulch plus Soil bund (MLBD), Tied ridge plus Mulch (TRML), Tied ridge plus Soil bund (TRBD). The practices were arranged in Randomised Complete Block Design with four replicates. Seasonal rainfall was 539 and 761 mm in 2011 and 2012, respectively. Seasonal soil water storage (SWS) ranged from 485 mm for NC to 517 mm for TRML in the two seasons. ML increased the SWS in the upper 30 cm of the soil by 17% while TR increased the soil water content in the lower 30–60 cm by 22% compared with NC. ML reduced soil temperature in the upper 30 cm between 2.2 and 2.9 oC compared with NC, TR and TRML. Seasonal crop evapotranspiration ranged between 432 mm for NC and 481 mm for BD in the seasons. Grain yield increased by 41.7% and 44.3% for BD and MLBD, respectively compared with NC. Water conservation practices increased water productivity for grain yield by 14.0–41.8% compared with NC. Similarly, it increased average seasonal transpiration efficiency by 15.3–32.5% compared with NC. These findings demonstrate that when there are fluctuations in rainfall, in-situ water conservation practices improve SWS, land, and water productivity and transpiration efficiency of Soybeans

A Model for Deficit Irrigation Analysis of Crops

Scarcity and high cost of water is the most important limiting factor for crop production in irrigated agriculture. Deficit irrigation can be implemented to optimize the use of available water resources and put more land on productive use. A model was developed to determine the savings in water and the economic benefit derived from deficit irrigation. The model was tested using yield-water use data of maize, tomato, okra and cowpea grown under irrigated condition in Nigeria. Cowpea is the main source of plant protein in the local diet and okra one of the major vegetable crops planted in Nigeria. The results indicated that some water reduction is possible without affecting yields. The optimum water reduction is 4, 8, 12 and 18% for maize, tomato, okra and cowpea, respectively. Maximum allowable water reduction increased with increase in the benefit-cost ratio of each tested crop. The maximum allowable water reduction is 9, 13, 21 and 32%, with a corresponding increase in cultivated area by 10, 16, 23 and 50% for maize, tomato, okra and cowpea, respectively, at a benefit-cost ratio of 1.5. The model, in most of the years showed that the optimum moisture reduction level increased with increasing seasonal rainfall. Increasing rooting depth or soil water holding capacity also increased the relative maximum yield for water reduction levels up to 40–50%. The developed model would be useful in determining the effect of soil, water, and crop variables on deficit irrigation of crops in different agro-ecological zones with appropriate crop and soil data input, and proper irrigation scheduling

56 DEVELOPMENT OF RAINFALL-RUNOFF FORECAST MODEL

ABSTRACT In recent time, Artificial Neural Network (ANN

Efeitos da aplicação de efluente tratado no solo: pH, matéria orgânica, fósforo e potássio Effects of application of treated wastewater in soil: pH, organic matter, phosphorus and potassium

O objetivo desta pesquisa foi avaliar os efeitos da disposição do efluente doméstico tratado em algumas características químicas do solo, razão pela qual foram determinadas as características físicas e químicas do efluente tratado e da água de abastecimento público e as características químicas do solo cultivado. Esta pesquisa foi realizada no período de maio a setembro de 2005, com o cultivo de variedade matador de pimentão com delineamento experimental inteiramente casualisado em esquema fatorial 4 x 2, sendo quatro tipos de água e dois níveis de adubação e 12 repetições para cada tratamento. Concluiu-se ao término do experimento que o efluente utilizado mostrou qualidade física e química adequada para irrigação de plantas de pimentão e, com exceção da concentração de matéria orgânica, não se constataram-se, em geral, alterações significativas nas concentrações de fósforo, potássio e pH do solo cultivado.<br>This research aims to provide an analysis of the effects of treated wastewater reuse on some characteristics of soil, reason for which the physical and chemical characteristics of the treated effluent, the tap water and the cultivated soil were assessed. This study was carried out from May to September 2005 and the variety 'matador' of pepper was cultivated. The experimental design was randomized in a 4 x 2 factorial scheme (four water types and two fertilization levels) and twelve replications. At the end of the experiment it was concluded that the effluent presented adequate physical and chemical quality for irrigation of pepper plant. With the exception of the organic matter concentration, in general, there was no significant change in the concentration of phosphorus, potassium and pH of the cultivated soil