Abstract
Inclusion of legumes in cropping systems is essential for sustainable management of farming systems and reducing the nitrogen (N) fertilizer requirement for maize production. The study evaluated the effect of growing legumes (soybean, cowpea and velvet bean) and maize the same year in rotation, on maize yield and soil fertility indices. The agronomic practices implemented were residue management (residue added and residue removed) and fertilizer N application (0 kg N ha−1 and 60 kg N ha−1) under four rotation systems. The result showed that growing velvet bean the same year in rotation with maize was effective in increasing maize yield and improving some soil fertility indices over growing maize after maize the same year in the same location. Compared to maize monocropping, over 100% increase in maize yield was obtained with velvet bean-maize rotation even in absence of residue incorporation. In addition, velvet bean-maize rotation increased maize yield over cowpea- and soybean- maize rotations. The rotation effect occurred as a result of improvement in soil nitrogen, avail phosphorus (P), exchangeable magnesium (exch Mg) and effective cation exchange capacity (ECEC). Grain legumes-maize rotations equally increased maize yield over sole maize. Generally legume-maize rotations increased total N, avail P, exch K, Mg and effective cation exchange capacity over sole maize. Crop residue incorporation and N fertilizer application significantly improved soil N and maize grain yield (0.18%, 2.74 tha−1 in 2008; 0.22%, 1.16 tha−1 in 2009 and 0.19%, 2.72 tha−1 in 2008; 1.35 tha−1 in 2009 respectively) over non-residue incorporation (0.16% and 1.84 tha−1 in 2008, 0.66 tha−1 in 2009) and zero N application (0.16% and 1.83 tha−1 in 2008 and 0.17% and 0.85 tha−1 in 2009). Therefore, velvet bean could be planted the same season with subsequent maize in rotation cropping for intensive sustainable maize production in sandy-loam soils without fertilizer N. For grain legumes such as soybean and cowpea to be effective in rotation cropping with maize, the grain legumes have to be planted early before the full set of rain because excess rain would affect their growth and development.
Highlights
Intensive maize production requires a lot of fertilizer N, which is expensive and inaccessible to resource poor farmers
Green manure crops when incorporated into the soil are known for their improvement of soil properties[12] and yield of crop grown after them[13] but the question is can maize be sustainably grown after legumes the same year and on the same piece of land for sustainable intensification of maize production? And is it possible to sustainably grow maize after grain legumes such as soybean and cowpea? This could enable faster adoption of legume-maize rotations on farmers’ fields
The study evaluated maize yield and soil fertility improvement of grain legumes-maize and velvet bean-maize rotations, with both crops grown the same year on the same piece of land under selected agronomic practices
Summary
Intensive maize production requires a lot of fertilizer N, which is expensive and inaccessible to resource poor farmers. Reported that the removal of legume residue during the dry season didn’t rule out the yield response of maize, but the magnitude of response depended on the fertility level of the location Another important aspect of residue management is the quality. The hypothesis is that legume-cereal rotation with or without residue and/or N addition gives higher yield and improves soil fertility than maize monocrop. Alternative hypothesis is that legume-cereal rotation with or without residue and/or urea addition gives the same or lower yield and does not improves soil fertility than maize monocrop. The study evaluated maize yield and soil fertility improvement of grain legumes-maize and velvet bean-maize rotations, with both crops grown the same year on the same piece of land under selected agronomic practices. The objectives were to; (1) determine the site specific effect of rotation benefit of soybean, cowpea and velvet bean cultivation on maize yield and soil fertility parameters and (2) determine the effect of residue management and N fertilizer as selected agronomic practices on moderating the rotation benefit to maize grain yield and soil chemical properties
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