Alley-cropping stabilizes maize yields

Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation

Authors

Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation

Date

1991

Language

Type

News Item

Accessibility

Unrestricted Access

Metadata

Show full item record

Citation

CTA. 1991. Alley-cropping stabilizes maize yields. Spore 31. CTA, Wageningen, The Netherlands.

Permanent link to cite or share this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10568/45448

External link to download this item: http://collections.infocollections.org/ukedu/en/d/Jcta31e/

Abstract/Description

Notes

A long-term trial which compared maize crops with and without alley-cropping, and alley cropping with and without fertilizer, has been undertaken in Gandajika, Zaire. This has shown that although alley-cropping alone maintains soil productivity, addition of moderate amounts of fertilizer is the best means of achieving stability and increased productivity for farmers in south-central Zaire. Hedgerows of Leucaena leucocephala were planted with maize in rows four metres apart. The hedgerows were pruned at a height of 50cm at the beginning of the second maize season, and the prunings used as a mulch. In the sixth and seventh season of the trial one maize row out of five was eliminated to reduce the competition between the maize and Leucaena. In the early seasons alley-crop ping did not benefit the maize much, because there were in sufficient prunings to make a mulch. The maize next to the hedgerows yielded poorly St researchers intensified the pruning cycle. The results were that alley-crop ping produced a consistent crop of significantly higher yield than that which could be produced without alley-cropping. Fertilizer increased yields in both cases but was not alone sufficient to halt the decline in yield from the third season onwards in the maize which was grown without alley-cropping. Alley-farming Network in the Tropics (AFNETA) PMB 5320 Ibadan NIGERIA