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Effects of maize residue and mineral nitrogen applications on maize yield in conservation-agriculture-based cropping systems of Southern Africa

OAR@ICRISAT

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Relation http://oar.icrisat.org/11054/
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S174217051900005X
10.1017/S174217051900005X
 
Title Effects of maize residue and mineral nitrogen applications on maize yield in conservation-agriculture-based cropping systems of Southern Africa
 
Creator Mupangwa, W
Thierfelder, C
Cheesman, S
Nyagumbo, I
Muoni, T
Mhlanga, B
Mwila, M
Sida, T S
Ngwira, A R
 
Subject Cropping and Farming Systems
Maize
African Agriculture
 
Description Conservation agriculture (CA) and no-till (NT)-based cropping systems could address soil degradation and fertility decline in southern Africa. A multi-location and multi-year experiment was carried out between 2008 and 2014 to assess the effects of different levels of maize residue biomass (0, 2, 4, 6 and 8 t ha−1) and nitrogen (N) fertilizer (0, 30, 90 kg ha−1) on maize performance under no-tillage. In some sites, different (N) fertilizer levels were superimposed to test their effects on maize grain yield and leaf chlorophyll content under different maize residue biomass levels. The different residue levels had no significant effect on maize yield in most growing seasons. Maize residue cover increased grain yield in eight out of 39 site-years across the sites used. However, in some sites, maize yield decreased with increases in residue level in cropping seasons that had average to above average rainfall. At a few sites maize yield increased with increase in residue level. Seasonal rainfall pattern influenced the effect of different residue levels on grain yield at most sites. Nitrogen fertilizer increased maize yield regardless of the residue level applied. This study demonstrates that mulching with maize residues in CA/NT systems results in limited maize yield gains – at least within the first 6 years in different agro-ecological conditions of southern Africa.
 
Publisher Cambridge University Press
 
Date 2019
 
Type Article
PeerReviewed
 
Format application/pdf
 
Language en
 
Rights —
 
Identifier http://oar.icrisat.org/11054/1/Residue%20Level%20Paper%202019.pdf
Mupangwa, W and Thierfelder, C and Cheesman, S and Nyagumbo, I and Muoni, T and Mhlanga, B and Mwila, M and Sida, T S and Ngwira, A R (2019) Effects of maize residue and mineral nitrogen applications on maize yield in conservation-agriculture-based cropping systems of Southern Africa. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems (TSI). pp. 1-14. ISSN 1742-1705