Abstract
Climate change increases the vulnerability of agrosystems to soil degradation and reduces the effectiveness of traditional soil restoration options. The implementation of some practices need to be readjusted due to steadily increasing temperature and lowering precipitation. For farmers, the best practice found, should have the potential to achieve maximum sustainable levels of soil productivity in the context of climate change. A study was conducted in South-West Niger to investigate the use of the suitable practice, through (i) a meta-analysis of case studies, (ii) using field survey and (iii) by using AquaCrop model. Results showed that the effects of the association zaï + mulch on crop yield was up to 2 times higher than control plots depending on climate projections scenario RCP 8.5 under which carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations are projected to reach 936 ppm by 2100. The practice appeared to be an interesting option for enhancing crop productivity in a context of climate change. Concerning its ability, it offers the best prospects to reverse soil degradation in the study area. In addition, the simulation showed that this strategy was suitable for timely sowing and therefore confirmed scholars and farmers views. Furthermore, this practice is relatively more effective compared to the others practices. These results show that association zaï + mulch could be considered as the best practice that can participate to a successful adaptation to reduce risk from climate change at the same time by reducing the vulnerability of farmers in Southwest of Niger for now and even for the future.
Highlights
Soil degradation and Climate change hinder agricultural productivity and the ability of the agricultural sector to feed the World's increasing population [1]
From our sample of traditional soil restoration strategies, zaï þ mulch may compete more or is the most effective practice with the largest positive effects on the parameters compared to the other strategies in term of productivity and adaptation to climate change
The result supports the establishment of the relationship between climate change and mean yield and suggests the promotion of zaï þ mulch practice in soil restoration that could be expected to affect the population of Southwest of Niger in a variety of ways
Summary
Soil degradation and Climate change hinder agricultural productivity and the ability of the agricultural sector to feed the World's increasing population [1]. This issue is of importance in Niger since 1970s. Tendency in precipitation are projected to go up and decline in the Sahelian countries such as Niger [4]. Such changes in weather patterns will likely affect crop yield and restoration outcomes and make it difficult to meet the sustainable development goals (SDGs) such as zero hunger and climate action [5, 6]
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