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Yield-phenology relations and water use efficiency of maize (Zea mays L.) in ridge-furrow mulching system in semiarid east African Plateau.

ABSTRACT: Yield-phenology relation is a critical issue affecting rainfed maize field productivity in semiarid east African Plateau (EAP). We first introduced Chinese ridge-furrow mulching (RFM) system to EAP, using three maize cultivars with early-, mid- and late-maturing traits as test materials. A two-year field experiment was conducted in a semiarid farm of Kenya from 2012 to 2013. Three treatments were designed: alternative ridge and furrow with transparent plastic mulching (FT), with black plastic mulching (FB) and without mulching (CK). We found that FT and FB significantly increased soil moisture and accelerated crop maturity across two growing seasons. Leaf area and shoot biomass were increased by 30.2% and 67.5% in FT, 35.2% and 73.5% in FB, respectively, compared with CK. Grain yield, water use efficiency and economic output were increased by 55.6%, 57.5% and 26.7% in FT, and 50.8%, 53.3% and 19.8% in FB, respectively. Optimal yield and economic benefit were observed in late-maturing cultivar due to increased topsoil temperature in FT in 2012 (cool), and in early-maturing cultivar owing to cooling effect in FB in 2013 (warm). Our study suggested RFM system, combined with crop phenology selection, be a promising strategy to boost maize productivity and profitability in semiarid EAP.

SUBMITTER: Mo F

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5468227 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Yield-phenology relations and water use efficiency of maize (Zea mays L.) in ridge-furrow mulching system in semiarid east African Plateau.

Mo Fei F Wang Jian-Yong JY Li Feng-Min FM Nguluu Simon N SN Ren Hong-Xu HX Zhou Hong H Zhang Jian J Kariuki Charles W CW Gicheru Patrick P Kavagi Levis L Cheruiyot Wesly K WK Xiong You-Cai YC

Scientific reports 20170612 1

Yield-phenology relation is a critical issue affecting rainfed maize field productivity in semiarid east African Plateau (EAP). We first introduced Chinese ridge-furrow mulching (RFM) system to EAP, using three maize cultivars with early-, mid- and late-maturing traits as test materials. A two-year field experiment was conducted in a semiarid farm of Kenya from 2012 to 2013. Three treatments were designed: alternative ridge and furrow with transparent plastic mulching (FT), with black plastic mu ...[more]

PMID: 28607420

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Project description:BackgroundIn semiarid areas, low productivity of crops has been attributed to lack of appropriate soil moisture conservation practices since droughts and soil erosion are rampant in most areas of this region. Consequently, ridge-furrow rainwater harvesting is widely used in these regions across the globe. Despite ridge-furrow being widely practiced, tied-ridge-furrow has not been extensively adopted by small-scale farmers in semi-arid regions. Consequently, the effectiveness of tied-ridge-furrow as a viable method of increasing crop yield has received less attention.MethodologyFor large-scale implementation, a detailed assessment of how ridge furrow, tied-ridge-furrow with fertilizer, tied-ridge-furrow with mulching and tied-ridge-furrow without mulching or fertilizer influence crop yield in different agro-environments under varying climatic conditions is needed. This study used the PRISMA guidelines to determine the impact of tied-ridge-furrow rainwater harvesting technique with mulching or fertilizer on sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) grain yields.ResultsSorghum grain yield increased by 17% greater in tied-ridge-furrow without mulching or fertilizer in comparison to flat planting. This may be due to increase in soil organic carbon in the region (9 g kg-1). Grain yield of millet significantly increased by 20-40% in Africa from 18 study observations in tied-ridge-furrow with fertilizer application as compared to tied-ridge-furrow without mulching or fertilizer treatments. This might be due to the significant increase in total nitrogen by 13-42% in the soil at <50 mg kg-1 quantity which had an effect size of 469.14 [65.60, 872.67]. In terms of soil texture, grain yield of millet and sorghum significantly increased in heavy textured soils (clay loam, silt clay, and clay soils) with an effect size of 469.14 [65.60, 872.67] compared to light and medium-textured soils of zero effect sizes. Millet and sorghum grain yields in tied-ridge-furrow with mulching, on the other hand, were not significantly different from those in flat planting. This may be due to the mulching materials used in those tests.ConclusionIn view of yields of sorghum and millet increased significantly by 32% and 17% in tied-ridge-furrow without mulching or fertilizer treatment compared to flat planting and tied-ridge-furrow with fertilizer treatment compared with tied-ridge-furrow without mulching or fertilizer treatment, respectively, this study recommend the use of fertilizers in a tied-ridge-furrow system to increase grain yield in semiarid areas compared to flat planting. Again, the study recommends more research on tied-ridge-furrow systems with other organic mulches and fertilizers in semiarid areas.

Project description:Mulching and nitrogen are critical drivers of crop production for smallholders of the Loess Plateau in China. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of mulching and nitrogen fertilizer on the soil water content, soil nitrate-N content and vertical distribution in maize root-zone. The experiment was conducted over two consecutive years and used randomly assigned field plots with three replicates. The six treatments consisted of no fertilizer without plastic film (CK), plastic film mulching with no basal fertilizer and no top dressing (MN0), basal fertilizer with no top dressing and no mulching (BN1), plastic film mulching and basal fertilizer with no top dressing (MN1), basal fertilizer and top dressing with no mulching (BN2) and plastic film mulching with basal fertilizer and top dressing (MN2). In the top soil layers, the soil water content was a little high in the plastic film mulching than that without mulching. The mean soil water content from 0 to 40 cm without mulching were 3.35% lower than those measured in the corresponding mulching treatments in 31 days after sowing in 2012. The mulching treatment increased the soil nitrate-N content was observed in the 0-40-cm soil layers. The results indicate that high contents of soil nitrate-N were mainly distributed at 0-20-cm at 31 days after sowing in 2012, and the soil nitrate-N concentration in the MN2 treatment was 1.58 times higher than that did not receive fertilizer. The MN2 treatment greatly increased the soil nitrate-N content in the upper layer of soil (0-40-cm), and the mean soil nitrate-N content was increased nearly 50 mg kg-1 at 105 days after sowing compared with CK treatment in 2012. The soil nitrate-N leaching amount in MN1 treatment was 28.61% and 39.14% lower than BN1 treatment, and the mulch effect attained to 42.55% and 65.27% in MN2 lower than BN2 in both years. The yield increased with an increase in the basal fertilizer, top dressing and plastic film mulching, and the grain yield increase ranged from 31.41% to 83.61% in two consecutive years. The MN1 and MN2 treatment is recommended because it increased the grain yield and improved the fertilizer use efficiency, compared with the no-mulching treatment.

Project description:Mulching is widely used to increase crop yield in semiarid regions in northwestern China, but little is known about the effect of different mulching systems on the microbial properties of the soil, which play an important role in agroecosystemic functioning and nutrient cycling. Based on a 4-year spring maize (Zea mays L.) field experiment at Changwu Agricultural and Ecological Experimental Station, Shaanxi, we evaluated the responses of soil microbial activity and crop to various management systems. The treatments were NMC (no mulching with inorganic N fertilizer), GMC (gravel mulching with inorganic N fertilizer), FMC (plastic-film mulching with inorganic N fertilizer) and FMO (plastic-film mulching with inorganic N fertilizer and organic manure addition). The results showed that the FMO soil had the highest contents of microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen, dehydrogenase activity, microbial activity and Shannon diversity index. The relative use of carbohydrates and amino acids by microbes was highest in the FMO soil, whereas the relative use of polymers, phenolic compounds and amines was highest in the soil in the NMC soil. Compared with the NMC, an increased but no significant trend of biomass production and nitrogen accumulation was observed under the GMC treatment. The FMC and FMO led a greater increase in biomass production than GMC and NMC. Compare with the NMC treatment, FMC increased grain yield, maize biomass and nitrogen accumulation by 62.2, 62.9 and 86.2%, but no significant difference was found between the FMO and FMC treatments. Some soil biological properties, i.e. microbial biomass carbon, microbial biomass nitrogen, being sensitive to the mulching and organic fertilizer, were significant correlated with yield and nitrogen availability. Film mulching over gravel mulching can serve as an effective measure for crop production and nutrient cycling, and plus organic fertilization additions may thus have improvements in the biological quality of the soil and its sustainability in the rainfall-limited semiarid region.

Project description:BackgroundHealth risks arising from heavy metal pollution have attracted global attention. As a result, many studies on the accumulation of heavy metals in soil-plant systems have performed human health risk assessments.ObjectivesWe aimed to examine the ability of Zea mays (maize) to accumulate heavy metals and assess the bioaccumulation factor (BAF) by collecting, collating, and analyzing data on heavy metal concentrations in Zea mays.MethodsThis study reviewed the accumulation of five selected heavy metals, cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), copper (Cu), and zinc (Zn) in soil and the corresponding BAF of Zea mays grown on those soils using a systematic search of peer-reviewed scientific journals. A total of 27 research works were reviewed after screening 52 articles for subject matter relevancy, including dumpsites, industrially polluted soils, inorganically fertilized soils, mining sites, smelting sites, municipal wastewater irrigated soils, and a battery waste dumpsite.ResultsAmong the reviewed sites, concentrations of Cd and Cr were highest at a tin mining site, where prolonged mining, mineral processing and other production activities contributed heavy metal pollution in the soil. The soil at a battery waste dumpsite exhibited the highest Pb concentration, while the soil at a Zn smelting site presented the highest concentration of Zn. The highest soil Cu concentration was found in an area where sewage irrigation had been carried out over a long period. The BAF of the five heavy metals in Zea mays increased with the metal concentrations in the soil. The BAF of Cd, Cr, Pb, Cu, and Zn in Zea mays from the study areas fall within the ranges of 0-0.95, 0-1.89, 0-1.20, 0.011-0.99, and 0.03-0.99, respectively. Cadmium and Zn had the highest bioconcentration factors values in maize plants, likely due to their higher mobility rate compared to the other heavy metals.ConclusionsThe study concluded that Zea mays is capable of accumulating high amounts of heavy metals, although accumulation of these heavy metals is influenced by multiple factors including soil texture, cation exchange capacity, root exudation and especially soil pH and chemical forms of the heavy metals. Zea mays should not be planted on metal-contaminated soils because of its potential to act as a hyperaccumulator.Competing interestsThe authors declare no competing financial interests.

Dataset Information

Yield-phenology relations and water use efficiency of maize (Zea mays L.) in ridge-furrow mulching system in semiarid east African Plateau.

Publications

Yield-phenology relations and water use efficiency of maize (Zea mays L.) in ridge-furrow mulching system in semiarid east African Plateau.

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