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

Open Access

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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