Abstract
Much research has been conducted on cereal-legume intercropping as a sustainable intensification (SI) practice in Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA). However, the role of inorganic fertilizers in sustainably intensifying intercropping systems has not been systematically analyzed. Therefore, the objective of the present analysis was to assess the role of inorganic fertilizer use in cereal-pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan) intercropping in terms of SI indicators, namely, yield, production risks, input use efficiency, and economic returns. The data used for this analysis were gathered from over 900 on-farm trials across Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique. All SI indicators assessed showed that intercropping combined with application of small amounts of inorganic fertilizers is superior to unfertilized intercrops. Fertilizer application in the intercropping system improved cereal yields by 71–282% and pigeon pea yields by 32–449%, increased benefit–cost ratios by 10–40%, and reduced variability in cereal yields by 40–56% and pigeonpea yields by 5–52% compared with unfertilized intercrops. Improved yields and reduced variability imply lowering farmers’ risk exposure and improved credit rating, which could enhance access to farm inputs. We conclude that the strategic application of small amounts of inorganic fertilizers is essential for the productivity and economic sustainability of cereal-pigeonpea intercropping under smallholder farming in ESA.
Highlights
The smallholder agricultural sector in Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) region is heavily constrained by declining per capita land holding [1], loss of soil fertility [2,3], and climate variability [4,5,6]
As such, assessing the sustainability of the intercropping system in the conventional sustainability framework will be a daunting task. In this analysis we focused on comparing treatments using indicators of sustainable intensification, which have been reported to be more relevant to the system, such as the one studied below
Across the sites in Mozambique and Tanzania the probability of exceeding 3000 kg ha−1 was significantly higher in Intercrop + Full than in Intercrop-Unfertilized (Figure 2)
Summary
The smallholder agricultural sector in Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) region is heavily constrained by declining per capita land holding [1], loss of soil fertility [2,3], and climate variability [4,5,6]. As in most of sub-Saharan Africa, this region is severely affected by land degradation [7]. Sustainable intensification (SI) of smallholder agriculture has been recognized as a crucial component of the strategy towards reversing the trend in land degradation and increasing food production [1,8,9]. Sustainable intensification (SI) is defined as producing more output from the same area of land while reducing the negative environmental impacts, and at the same time increasing contributions to natural capital and the flow of environmental services [9,10]. SI is recognized as one of the cornerstones of climate-smart agriculture (CSA), i.e., agriculture that achieves the triple objectives of increasing productivity, adaptation to climate change, and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions [11]
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