Grain and nutritional yield merits of sustainable intensification through maize-legume rotations in land constrained smallholder farms of Malawi

IF 5.6 1区 农林科学 Q1 AGRONOMY
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Context

In Southern Africa, crop yields remain low despite the advent of technological improvements, leaving the region vulnerable to food insecurity and malnutrition. Most governments are now faced with the dilemma of achieving food security, while reducing poverty in the face of climate change and endemic land fragmentation due to population pressure. To address these challenges, considerable efforts have been put on sustainable intensification through conservation agriculture (CA) cropping systems involving maize-legume rotations or intercrops.

Objective

This study evaluated the performance of maize-legume rotations in terms of maize yield, total systems nutritional productivity, and land requirements for food and nutrition security at household level in land constrained settings.

Methods

On-farm trials testing maize monocrops, with and without herbicide, and maize-legume rotations were established in three districts of Central Malawi (Kasungu, Mchinji, and Lilongwe) for three consecutive cropping seasons (2014–2017). Each of these trials was implemented on 18 farms, corresponding to 6 farms in each of the three districts, with each farm considered as one replicate.

Results

Maize yield increased by 30–110 kg ha−1 with every additional 1000 plants ha−1 at harvest, indicating the importance of achieving the recommended plant population. CA rotation systems (maize-cowpea, maize-groundnut, and maize-soybean rotations) and CA sole systems (with and without herbicide) had higher maize yields than the sole maize cropping system established with ridge and furrow practice. In Mchinji and Lilongwe, maize–cowpea rotations yielded 35 % more than the ridge and furrow practice while the maize-soybean rotation yielded 42 % above the same practice in Kasungu. Maize-legume rotations also yielded 22–70 % higher protein, while energy yield was 13–18 % higher in the CA sole maize cropping system compared to the ridge and furrow practice. CA-based cropping systems (sole and rotations) exhibited potential to meet household nutritional needs in land-constrained settings, with some showing a significant land-sparing advantage. These results indicate that CA-based cropping systems not only improve maize yields but also enhance nutritional productivity and land use efficiency.

Conclusions

Harnessing the synergistic benefits of CA systems, legume integration and recommended plant populations can pave way for sustainable agricultural practices that are crucial for food and nutrition security of land constrained farms in Southern Africa.

Implications

While maize remains an important staple in Southern Africa, legume integration as part of a broader nutrition sensitive agriculture approach can help address food production and nutritional needs in regions with limited land availability, thereby supporting long-term food security.

马拉维土地有限的小农农场通过玉米-豆类轮作实现可持续集约化的谷物和营养产量优势
背景在南部非洲,尽管出现了技术改进,但作物产量仍然很低,使该地区容易受到粮食不安全和营养不良的影响。面对气候变化和人口压力造成的地方性土地破碎,大多数政府现在都面临着既要实现粮食安全,又要减少贫困的两难境地。为了应对这些挑战,人们通过玉米-豆类轮作或间作的保护性农业(CA)种植系统,在可持续集约化方面做出了巨大努力。这项研究评估了玉米-豆类轮作在玉米产量、系统总营养生产力以及土地需求方面的表现,以在土地有限的情况下保障家庭的粮食和营养安全。方法 在马拉维中部的三个地区(卡松古、姆钦吉和利隆圭)连续三个耕种季节(2014-2017 年)开展了农田试验,测试使用和不使用除草剂的玉米单作物以及玉米-豆科植物轮作。结果收获时每增加 1000 株玉米,玉米产量就会增加 30-110 千克/公顷,这表明达到推荐的植株数量非常重要。CA轮作系统(玉米-豇豆、玉米-花生和玉米-大豆轮作)和CA单作系统(使用和不使用除草剂)的玉米产量高于采用垄沟法建立的单作玉米种植系统。在姆钦吉和利隆圭,玉米-豇豆轮作的产量比犁沟法高出 35%,而在卡松古,玉米-大豆轮作的产量比犁沟法高出 42%。玉米-豆类轮作的蛋白质产量也比脊沟栽培法高出 22-70%,而单作玉米的 CA 种植系统的能量产量比脊沟栽培法高出 13-18%。以 CA 为基础的种植系统(单作和轮作)显示出在土地有限的情况下满足家庭营养需求的潜力,其中一些系统显示出明显的节约土地优势。这些结果表明,以 CA 为基础的种植系统不仅能提高玉米产量,还能提高营养生产率和土地利用效率。虽然玉米仍然是南部非洲的重要主食,但作为更广泛的营养敏感型农业方法的一部分,豆科植物整合有助于解决土地供应有限地区的粮食生产和营养需求问题,从而支持长期粮食安全。
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来源期刊
Field Crops Research
Field Crops Research 农林科学-农艺学
CiteScore
9.60
自引率
12.10%
发文量
307
审稿时长
46 days
期刊介绍: Field Crops Research is an international journal publishing scientific articles on: √ experimental and modelling research at field, farm and landscape levels on temperate and tropical crops and cropping systems, with a focus on crop ecology and physiology, agronomy, and plant genetics and breeding.
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