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Mulching effects on soil physical quality of an alfisol in western Nigeria

✍ Scribed by R. Lal

Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
Year: 2000
Tongue: English
Weight: 80 KB
Volume: 11
Category: Article
ISSN: 1085-3278
DOI: 10.1002/1099-145x(200007/08)11:4<383::aid-ldr393>3.0.co;2-6

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✦ Synopsis

Degradation of soil physical quality\ following deforestation and cultivation\ is a major soil!related constraint to an intensive use of soil for crop production in subhumid regions of subSaharan Africa[ Use of crop residue mulch is an important strategy to minimize the risks of soil degradation[ Therefore\ a three!year experiment was conducted to study the e}ects of _ve rates of mulch application "9\ 1\ 3\ 5 and 7 Mg ha -0 season -0 # on soil physical properties and growth and yield of maize "Zea mays#[ Mulch rate of rice straw signi_cantly increased maize grain and stover yields during the _rst season\ and the stover yield during the second season[ In comparison with the control\ the grain yield increased by 19 per cent at 1 Mg ha -0 of mulch rate and by 22 per cent at 7 Mg ha -0 of mulch rate[ The rate of increase was 9=05 Mg ha -0 for grain yield and 9=27 Mg ha -0 for stover yield for every Mg of mulch applied[ The increase in stover yield during the second season was 56 per cent for 7 Mg ha -0 mulch rate compared with the unmulched control[ E}ects of mulch rate on soil physical properties were con_ned mostly to the surface 9Ð4 cm depth[ For this depth\ mulching decreased bulk density from 0=06 Mg m -2 for control to 9=87 Mg m -2 \ and penetration resistance from 0=43 kg cm -1 to 0=96 kg cm -1 for 7 Mg ha -0 of mulch rate[ Application of mulch up to 05 Mg ha -0 yr -0 for three consecutive years had no e}ect on soil physical properties below 4 cm depth[ Experiments were probably not conducted for a long enough period[ For mulch farming to be adopted by farmers of West Africa\ it must be an integral part of the improved farming system[ Copyright Þ 1999 John Wiley + Sons\ Ltd[ KEY WORDS] soil degradation^mulch farming^no till^soil quality^maize yield^West Africa^tropical soils^Nigeria

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