Intercropping millet with low-density cowpea improves millet productivity for low and medium N input in semi-arid central Senegal

Senghor Yolande, Balde Alpha Bocar, Manga Anicet G.B., Affholder François, Letourmy Philippe, Bassene César, Kanfany Ghislain, Ndiaye Malick, Couedel Antoine, Leroux Louise, Falconnier Gatien. 2023. Intercropping millet with low-density cowpea improves millet productivity for low and medium N input in semi-arid central Senegal. Heliyon, 9 (7):e17680, 13 p.

Résumé : Cereal-legume intercropping has been traditionally practiced across West Africa by farmers and provides resilience of agriculture to climate variability. Intensification of these extensive intercropping systems in order to meet future food demand is critical. This study aims at evaluating the agronomic performance of the intensification of millet-cowpea intercropping with low cowpea density, and its variation with climate variability, using an on-station experiment in Bambey, Senegal. Two trials (irrigated vs rainfed) were set up to compare millet sole- and inter-cropping with a grain and a fodder variety of cowpea, in 2018 and 2019. Two levels of fertilization were tested: 0 kg(N) ha−1 and 69 kg(N) ha−1. The two cropping years were contrasting and water stress around flowering and/or during grain filling (indicated by the Fraction of Transpirable Soil Water) was higher in 2019 than in 2018 in the rainfed experiment. In both experiment and for all treatments, land equivalent ratio (LER) in the intercropping was 1.6 and 1.4 for grain and biomass respectively. Millet aboveground biomass was significantly higher in intercropping than in sole cropping in the irrigated experiment but not in the rainfed experiment. In the rainfed experiment, the interaction between cropping system and year was significant, so that millet aboveground biomass was greater in intercropping than in sole cropping in 2018 (year of lower water stress) but not in 2019 (year of higher water stress). The effect of fertilization on millet aboveground biomass did not significantly interact with cropping system (sole vs intercrop). For grain yield, fertilization interacted significantly with the cropping system in the irrigated trial: the benefits of intercropping on millet grain yield were greater with 69 kg(N) ha−1 than with 0 kg(N) ha−1. This significant interaction could not be observed in the rainfed trial, potentially due to water stress. These results show that the level of water stress (related here to the year and to the rainfed or irrigated experiment) and that of fertilization modulate the performance of millet-cowpea intercropping in the semi-arid context of Senegal. Overall, fertilization had a stronger effect on millet grain yield than intercropping. The two strategies (intercropping and mineral fertilization) can be complementary to achieve sustainable intensification of cropping system in semi-arid areas of West Africa.

Mots-clés Agrovoc : rendement des cultures, culture intercalaire, changement climatique, stress dû à la sécheresse, système de culture, niébé, millet, essai de variété, intensification, irrigation, séquestration du carbone, Cenchrus americanus

Mots-clés géographiques Agrovoc : Sénégal, Afrique occidentale, Afrique centrale

Mots-clés libres : Millet, Cowpea, Intercropping, Agroecological practices, Senegal

Classification Agris : F08 - Systèmes et modes de culture
F01 - Culture des plantes

Champ stratégique Cirad : CTS 2 (2019-) - Transitions agroécologiques

Agences de financement européennes : European Commission

Agences de financement hors UE : Agence Française de Développement, United States Agency for International Development

Programme de financement européen : H2020

Projets sur financement : (FRA) Ecological Intensification and Inequality, (USA) SIMCO, (EU) LEAP-Agri RAMSES II, (EU) SustainSAHEL

Auteurs et affiliations

• Senghor Yolande, CIRAD-PERSYST-UPR AIDA (FRA)
• Balde Alpha Bocar, ISRA (SEN)
• Manga Anicet G.B., Université Gaston Berger (SEN)
• Affholder François, CIRAD-PERSYST-UPR AIDA (MOZ) ORCID: 0000-0002-3919-4805
• Letourmy Philippe, CIRAD-PERSYST-UPR AIDA (FRA) ORCID: 0000-0003-1040-0860
• Bassene César, Université Gaston Berger (SEN)
• Kanfany Ghislain, ISRA (SEN)
• Ndiaye Malick, ISRA (SEN)
• Couedel Antoine, CIRAD-PERSYST-UPR AIDA (FRA)
• Leroux Louise, CIRAD-PERSYST-UPR AIDA (KEN) ORCID: 0000-0002-7631-2399
• Falconnier Gatien, CIRAD-PERSYST-UPR AIDA (ZWE) ORCID: 0000-0003-3291-650X - auteur correspondant

Source : Cirad-Agritrop (https://agritrop.cirad.fr/605650/)

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