Crop yield responses to conservation agriculture practices in Sub-Saharan Africa: a meta- analysis Raymond Sakyi, Marc Corbeels, Ronald Kühne, Anthony Whitbread Department of Crop Production Systems in the Tropics, Georg-August Universität, Göttingen, Germany Agro-ecology and Sustainable Intensification of Annual Crops, CIRAD, Montpellier, France [email protected]18 -21 March, Lusaka, Zambia
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Crop yield responses to Conservation Agriculture practices in sub Saharan Africa a meta-analysis
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Crop yield responses to conservation agriculture practices
in Sub-Saharan Africa: a meta-analysis
Raymond Sakyi, Marc Corbeels, Ronald Kühne, Anthony Whitbread
Department of Crop Production Systems in the Tropics, Georg-August
Universität, Göttingen, Germany Agro-ecology and Sustainable Intensification of Annual Crops, CIRAD, Montpellier, France
• Growing number of studies have been carried out comparing the practices of conservation agriculture (CA) to conventional tillage (CT) in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Conducted under a range of conditions (climate, soil, crop management, cropping systems)
• The effects of CA on crop yield compared to CT are diverse
Aim of the study
• Better understanding of crop responses to CA
• Identifying the agro-ecological and management conditions that favor positive crop responses to CA
• Contributing to better targeting the investments with CA development and research
Methods
• Search of scientific literature on the effects of the CA (no-tillage, crop residue mulching and rotations) on crop yields in SSA
• 42 (peer-reviewed) papers were selected for the final dataset with 61 independent studies
• Meta-analysis: random effects model to calculate effect sizes
• Weighted mean difference in grain yield between the CA and CT treatment
• Weight given to each study was calculated as the inverse of the variance
Overall results
• Large variability in grain yield responses (from positive to negative) to CA compared to CT
• NTM had the largest positive mean (378 kg ha-1) followed by NTR with a positive mean of 142 kg ha-1, and then NT with a negative mean (- 24 kg ha-1)
Short-term yield responses
• Positive responses: under conditions where water stress occurs (e.g. dry spells), since mulching increases soil water availability (e.g. Mkoga et al. 2010; Mupangwa et al. 2012; Thierfelder and Wall 2009).
• Negative responses: i) under high rainfall, as mulching may exacerbate waterlogging (Thierfelder and Wall 2012); ii) increased weed competition and problems with seeding (Mashingaidze et al. 2012).
Crop responses in time • Yield benefits are expected to accumulate over time, because CA is known to
gradually improve biological, chemical and physical properties of the soil
• Results from a meta-analysis of existing crop yield data from long-term experiments in sub-Saharan Africa do not confirm this hypothesis, and show large variation in the data
Data from: Vogel (1993), Lal (1997), Nehanda (2000), Moyo (2003) and Thierfelder et al. (2013)
Rotations with legumes!
• meta-analysis of results from long-term experiments in sub-humid and semi-arid regions of the world
Rusinamhodzi L, Corbeels M, van Wijk M, Rufino MC, Nyamangara J, Giller KE. Long-term effects of conservation agriculture practices on maize yields under rain-fed conditions: lessons for southern Africa.
Nyabeda, Kenya sandy-loam 0-30 5 Non-significant differences Paul et al. 2013
Abomey-Calavi,
Benin
sandy loam 0-15 1 Non-significant differences Saito et al. 2010
Effect on no-tillage
• less than 3 years: overall effect in terms of yield benefit is positive (88 kg ha-1) more than 3 years: overall negative effect (-227 kg ha-1)
• in the longer term no-tillage without crop residue mulching triggers negative impacts on crop production, which may be mainly due to a soil compaction or soil surface crusting
Number of observations
0 20 40 60
We
ighte
d m
ean d
iffe
rence
(kg
/ha)
-4000
-2000
0
2000
4000
NT
Duration < 3 years
*
Number of observations
0 10 20 30 40
We
ighte
d m
ean d
iffe
rence
(kg
/ha)
-4000
-2000
0
2000
4000
NT
Duration > 3 years
*
Effect of mulching
• positive yield response seems to increase over time (from 294 to 487 kg ha-1)
• positive short-term effect on crop growth and productivity through increased soil water conservation, and a positive long-term effect through enhancing soil carbon levels and soil fertility in general.
Number of observations
0 20 40 60 80 100
We
ighte
d m
ean d
iffe
rence
(kg
/ha)
-8000
-6000
-4000
-2000
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
NTM
Duration < 3 years
*
Number of observations
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160
We
ighte
d m
ean d
iffe
rence
(kg
/ha)
-8000
-6000
-4000
-2000
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
NTM
Duration > 3years
*
Fertilizer!
• response increases with N fertilization (from 85 to 391 kg ha-1)
• appropriate fertilization is critical for increasing crop productivity and the availability of crop residues for mulching
Number of observations
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
We
ighte
d m
ean d
iffe
rence
(kg
/ha)
-6000
-4000
-2000
0
2000
4000
6000
N input < 100 kg/haNS
Number of observations
0 20 40 60 80
We
ighte
d m
ean d
iffe
rence
(kg
/ha)
-6000
-4000
-2000
0
2000
4000
6000
N input > 100 kg/ha*
Effects of soil texture
• cop grain yields on sandy and clayey soils under CA were not significantly different than yields under CT: 72 and 45 kg ha-1
• On loamy soils: significantly higher than that of CT:299 kg ha-1
Number of observations
0 20 40 60 80
We
ighte
d m
ean d
iffe
rence
(kg
/ha)
-6000
-4000
-2000
0
2000
4000
6000
Sandy soilNS
Number of observations
0 50 100 150 200 250
We
ighte
d m
ean d
iffe
rence
(kg
/ha)
-6000
-4000
-2000
0
2000
4000
6000 Loamy soil
*
Number of observations
0 10 20 30 40 50
We
ighte
d m
ean d
iffe
rence
(kg
/ha)
-6000
-4000
-2000
0
2000
4000
6000
Clayey soilNS
Effects of seasonal rainfall
• crop grain yields were overall significantly higher under CA treatments compared to CT in all seasonal rainfall categories
• overall, crop grain yields were 143, 161 and 348 kg ha-1 higher under CA compared to CT for < 600 mm, 600-1,000 mm and > 1,000 mm, respectively
Number of observations
0 20 40 60 80
We
ighte
d m
ean d
iffe
rence
(kg
/ha)
-6000
-4000
-2000
0
2000
4000
6000
< 600 mm*
Number of observations
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160
We
ighte
d m
ean d
iffe
rence
(kg
/ha)
-6000
-4000
-2000
0
2000
4000
6000
600 - 1000 mm*
Number of observations
0 10 20 30 40 50
We
ighte
d m
ean d
iffe
rence
(kg
/ha)
-6000
-4000
-2000
0
2000
4000
6000
> 1000 mm*
Conclusions • Mulching (crop residues) and rotations are required
for effective yield benefits
• (Short-term) yield benefits are variable = bottleneck for adoption; farmers need immediate benefits from investments
• Higher benefits in comparison with CT when fertilizer is applied ( better-resourced farmers)