Abstract
Inefficient management practices lead to soil organic matter depletion, structure breakdown and increased erosion. This has resulted into low crop yields of sub-Saharan Africa. Conservation agriculture (CA) is being considered as a potential system having the capability of improving soil quality and providing stable yields. A study was therefore conducted, at Chitedze Research Station-Malawi, to evaluate medium term effects of 5 years CA experiment potential in improving soil quality. The results indicated that chemical nutrient build up in CA is gradual and significant differences between treatments were realized from the 4th year of practicing CA. In the 5th year, CA treatments, on average registered 14 and 21% higher in pH and soil organic matter (SOM) respectively than in the common practice. A positive correlation (74%) between soil SOM and pH in the 5th year was observed. CA treatments had a range of 61.2 - 69.4% of the soil particles composed of soil aggregates greater than 2 mm in diameter compared to 30.1% under common practice by the 5th year. In the top 30 cm of the soil, 67 and 17 earthworm’s’ m-2 were recorded in CA and control, respectively. Maize yields were higher in the 5th year as compared to the 1st year. In all the parameters assessed, CA using maize - cowpea rotation treatment gave highest values. Conclusively, CA improves soil quality, especially when legumes are integrated. Key words: Common practice, soil aggregate stability.
Highlights
Agricultural production in Malawi faces numerous problems which have resulted in the maize production being at less than 1.3 t ha-1 against the potential of 6 to 8 t ha-1 (Ellis et al, 2003)
The results indicated that chemical nutrient build up in Conservation agriculture (CA) is gradual and significant differences between treatments were realized from the 4th year of practicing CA
CA treatments had a range of 61.2 - 69.4% of the soil particles composed of soil aggregates greater than 2 mm in diameter compared to 30.1% under common practice by the 5th year
Summary
Agricultural production in Malawi faces numerous problems which have resulted in the maize production being at less than 1.3 t ha-1 against the potential of 6 to 8 t ha-1 (Ellis et al, 2003). Movement of the soil through conventional crop production systems lead to declining productivity and soil degradation. Soil movement leads into the disturbance of the habitat of soil micro flora and fauna and loss in microbial diversity (Ghabbour, 2010). This scenario has been worsened by climate change effects which have increased the occurrences of drought periods, combined with shifts and unpredictable rainfall patterns (IPCC, 2001)
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