Impact of tree coppicing on tree-crop competition in parkland and alley farming systems in semiarid Burkina Faso

1995 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 363-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Tilander ◽  
G. Ouedraogo ◽  
F. Yougma
Keyword(s):  
Burkina Faso ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Alley Farming ◽  
Tree Crop ◽  
Crop Competition

Water use, competition, and crop production in low rainfall, alley farming systems of south-eastern Australia

2003 ◽  
Vol 54 (8) ◽  
pp. 751 ◽  
Author(s):  
Murray Unkovich ◽  
Kerrin Blott ◽  
Alex Knight ◽  
Ivan Mock ◽  
Abdur Rab ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Water ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Crop Yield ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Alley Farming ◽  
Annual Crop ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Annual Crops ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Perennial Shrubs

Annual crops were grown in alleys between belts of perennial shrubs or trees over 3–4 years at 3 sites across low rainfall (<450 mm) south-eastern Australia. At the two lower rainfall sites (Pallamana and Walpeup), crop grain yields within 2–5 m of shrub belts declined significantly with time, with a reduction equivalent to 45% over 9 m in the final year of cropping. At the third, wetter site (Bridgewater), the reduction in crop grain yields adjacent to tree belts was not significant until the final year of the study (12% over 11 m) when the tree growth rates had increased. The reductions in crop yield were associated with increased competition for water between the shrub or tree belts and the crops once the soil profile immediately below the perennials had dried. At all 3 sites during the establishment year, estimates of water use under the woody perennials were less than under annual crops, but after this, trends in estimates of water use of alley farming systems varied between sites. At Pallamana the perennial shrubs used a large amount of stored soil water in the second summer after establishment, and subsequently were predominantly dependent on rainfall plus what they could scavenge from beneath the adjacent crop. After the establishment year at the Walpeup site, water use under the perennial shrubs was initially 67 mm greater than under the annual crop, declining to be only 24 mm greater in the final year. Under the trees at Bridgewater, water use consistently increased to be 243 mm greater than under the adjacent annual crop by the final year. Although the shrub belts used more water than adjacent crop systems at Walpeup and Pallamana, this was mostly due to the use of stored soil water, and since the belts occupied only 7–18% of the land area, increases in total water use of these alley farming systems compared with conventional crop monocultures were quite small, and in terms of the extent of recharge control this was less than the area of crop yield loss. At the wetter, Bridgewater site, alley farming appeared to be using an increasing amount of water compared with conventional annual cropping systems. Overall, the data support previous work that indicates that in lower rainfall environments (<350 mm), alley farming is likely to be dogged by competition for water between crops and perennials.

Effects of technical interventions on flexibility of farming systems in Burkina Faso: Lessons for the design of innovations in West Africa

2015 ◽  
Vol 136 ◽  
pp. 125-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadine Andrieu ◽  
Katrien Descheemaeker ◽  
Thierry Sanou ◽  
Eduardo Chia
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Burkina Faso ◽  
Farming Systems

Use of tree and shrub belts to control leakage in three dryland cropping environments

2002 ◽  
Vol 53 (5) ◽  
pp. 571 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Knight ◽  
K. Blott ◽  
M. Portelli ◽  
C. Hignett
Keyword(s):  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Water Storage ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Soil Water Storage ◽  
Water Storage Capacity ◽  
Alley Farming ◽  
Episodic Event ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Recharge Rates ◽  
Deep Profile

The water extraction of deep-rooted perennial trees and shrub belts integrated with annual cropping/grazing systems was studied at 3 sites in the 300–450 mm rainfall zone of the Murray–Darling Basin of south-eastern Australia. Within 4 years of planting alley farming systems on cropland, the soil directly below and near the belts had dried the deep profile. Between 82 and 261 mm of extra soil water storage capacity was created in the 2.5 to 5.5–6 m profile. At Palamana (the only site monitored to greater depth), living roots were found 16 m below the surface. The cumulative water content of the soil to 12 m under the belts was 600 mm less than of soil cores extracted from nearby cropland. This water storage difference created under the belts is greater than the largest episodic event likely in this region and it is therefore unlikely that leakage will occur directly under or within a few metres of the belts. The early growth of the belts was rapid and the leaf area of the belts far exceeded that of remnant mallee eucalypt vegetation. The belts used water that had accumulated deep in the profile below the annual cropping systems they replaced. However, the belts only used water from below or within a few metres from the edge with the adjacent cropland. As suggested by RJ Harper et al. (2000), a much greater amount of potential recharge could be controlled if deep-rooted perennials were planted more closely across the landscape (compared with widely spaced belts). However, although the belts may be beneficial for the catchment water balance, they would be commercially unacceptable to farmers. In practice, farmers put the belts usually no less than 50–70 m apart so that less cropland is displaced and there is less belt/crop competition. In such cases alley farming only controls a small percentage of the total leakage, similar to the amount of crop yield lost by displacement and competition. It would be better to use a full coverage of perennials on soils where annual systems are the leakiest, rather than belts across all of the landscape, some of which may not be very leaky and could be highly profitable for annual cropping. Leakage could be controlled under cropland in a few years by growing easy to establish perennial species to retrieve moisture deep in the profile. At Pallamana the belts utilised 600 mm of accumulated leakage from deep in the profile in less than 4 years. Based on the average annual recharge rates under annual cropping (11–35 mm) the land could be cropped again for between 17 and 55 years before that leakage accumulated again.

Managing pluvial resources and improving soil hydrology: Survival questions for cotton farming systems. The case study of the Mouhoun (Burkina Faso)

Biologia ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Valérie Hauchart
Keyword(s):  
Burkina Faso ◽  
Rainy Season ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Climatic Changes ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Hydrological Processes ◽  
Erosion Processes

AbstractCotton cropping has been developing for more than 40 years in the western part of Burkina Faso. It has made a definite modernization of the traditional farming system. Modernization is illustrated by adoption of specific agricultural practices like monoculture, tillage, straight sowing and slope ridge planting. Misuse and non-adaptable local pedologic and climatic context of these new practices perturb soil hydrological processes. Outcomes are water loss by runoff, erosion and changes in the soils physical and physiochemical properties.Besides, we can notice in this area for more than 30 years climatic changes which require us to ask ourselves what are the resulting consequences. In fact, these climatic changes generate an extension of the rainy season, an increase in the frequency of high intensity spells but also recurrence of dry spells during the rainy season. Do these new climatic conditions exacerbate the consequences of cotton practices on hydrological processes and induce an aggravation of flow and erosion processes?These evolutions have direct consequences on crop production whereas needs are highly increasing. The improvement of the prevailing agricultural practices and innovative practices might provide improved pluvial resources in critical moments such as rainfall excess at the beginning and the end of the rainy season and short drought conditions after sowing or germination and during flowering. However two questions arise. In the rainfed agriculture, which cultural practices (to reduce runoff and to favour infiltration) are, in regard to pedologic, climatic or socio-economic context, able to allow improved water efficiency and, as a result, an increase of the food grains production? Might selected practices and production addition satisfy requirements of the coming population?

Regional differences in tree - crop competition due to soil, climate and management

2010 ◽  
Vol 61 (9) ◽  
pp. 763 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil I. Huth ◽  
Michael J. Robertson ◽  
Perry L. Poulton
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Regional Differences ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Management Options ◽  
Agronomic Practices ◽  
Tree Crop ◽  
Soil Climate ◽  
Production Losses ◽  
Crop Competition

Large areas of trees are being planted in Australian agricultural lands for a range of environmental, ecological and economic reasons. In the medium to low rainfall zones, these plantings can negatively impact upon adjacent agricultural production through competition for soil moisture. The nature of the tree–crop competition zone and the means of managing it have been studied in the main southern cropping zones. However, the differences in soil, climate and agronomic systems in Australia’s northern dryland cropping zones could lead to differences in the competition processes and the management options needed to minimise them. In this study, the competition for soil moisture and resultant impacts on crop production were studied for a Eucalyptus argophloia windbreak on a farm near Warra, Queensland (26.93°S, 150.93°E). The results indicate well defined inner and outer competition zones, the extents of which agree with those found elsewhere in Australia and overseas. However, while the extent of the competition is comparable with other regions, local agronomic practices developed for variable climatic conditions and deep clay soils allow trees to extract soil water stored during fallow periods resulting in relatively higher production losses.

scholarly journals Farmers’ Preferences for Genetic Resources of Kersting’s Groundnut [Macrotyloma geocarpum (Harms) Maréchal and Baudet] in the Production Systems of Burkina Faso and Ghana

Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 371 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariam Coulibaly ◽  
Chaldia O.A. Agossou ◽  
Félicien Akohoué ◽  
Mahamadou Sawadogo ◽  
Enoch G. Achigan-Dako
Keyword(s):  
Burkina Faso ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Smallholder Farming ◽  
Macrotyloma Geocarpum ◽  
Sudanian Zone ◽  
Kersting’S Groundnut

Pulses play important roles in providing proteins and essential amino-acids, and contribute to soils’ nutrients cycling in most smallholder farming systems in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). These crops can be promoted to meet food and nutrition security goals in low-income countries. Here, we investigated the status of Kersting’s groundnut (Macrotyloma geocarpum, Fabaceae), a neglected pulse in West Africa. We explored its diversity, the production systems, the production constraints and farmers’ preferences in Burkina Faso and Ghana. Focus groups and semi-structured interviews were conducted in 39 villages with 86 respondents grouped in five sociolinguistic groups. Our results indicated that Macrotyloma geocarpum was produced in three cultivation systems: in the first system, farmers grew Kersting’s groundnut in fields, mostly on mounds or on ridges; in the second system, farmers grew it as field border; and in the third system, no clear tillage practice was identified. The main constraints of those farming systems included: difficulty to harvest, the lack of manpower and the damage due to high soil humidity at the reproductive stage. A total of 62 samples were collected and clustered in six landraces based on seed coat colors including cream, white mottled with black eye, white mottled with greyed orange eye, black, brown mottled, and brown. All six groups were found in the southern-Sudanian zone whereas only white mottled with black eye and black colors were found in the northern-Sudanian zone. The white mottled with black eye landrace was commonly known and widely grown by farmers. Farmers’ preferences were, however, influenced by sociolinguistic membership and the most preferred traits included high yielding, drought tolerance, and resistance against beetles. These findings offer an avenue to develop a relevant breeding research agenda for promoting Kersting’s groundnut in Burkina Faso and Ghana.

scholarly journals Weeds control through tree-crop associations in a parkland of Burkina Faso

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 623
Author(s):  
Josias Sanou ◽  
Hugues Roméo Bazie ◽  
Madjelia Cangré Ebou Dao ◽  
Jules Bayala
Keyword(s):  
Burkina Faso ◽  
Tree Crop ◽  
Weeds Control

Farmer-Researcher Collaboration in Developing Cropping Practices that Involve the Complementary Use of Mechanical Tied Ridge and Fertilizer Technology for Sorghum in Burkina Faso

1990 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. G. Nagy ◽  
H. W. Ohm ◽  
S. Sawadogo
Keyword(s):  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Burkina Faso ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Water Retention ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Farmer Participation ◽  
Cropping Practices ◽  
Farmer Surveys ◽  
Fertilizer Technology

SUMMARYSpecific soil fertility and water retention constraints limit increased crop production in the subsistence-oriented farming systems of Burkina Faso. Previous attempts to introduce apparently promising technologies based on research that had not directly involved the fanner and that had not benefited from farmer-feedback have been largely unsuccessful. Active farmer involvement can help to identify relevant constraints to production and to identify and modify technologies to make them viable. Formal and informal farmer surveys and farmer participation in field experiments have led to the development of potentially useful cropping practices involving the complementary use of mechanical tied ridge and fertilizer-based technology.

scholarly journals Participatory analysis of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) cropping system and production constraints in Burkina Faso

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Boubacar Sinare ◽  
Amos Miningou ◽  
Baloua Nebié ◽  
John Eleblu ◽  
Ofori Kwadwo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Burkina Faso ◽  
Strong Correlation ◽  
Technical Assistance ◽  
Cropping System ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Farm Size ◽  
High Price ◽  
Improved Varieties ◽  
Production Constraints ◽  
Legume Crop

Abstract Background Groundnut is one of the major legume crops grown as food and cash crop across the different agroecological zones of Burkina Faso. It is ranked the 2nd important legume crop for household food, nutrition, and income generation for both rural and urban zones, contributing significantly to food supply and economy of the country. Despite its importance and breeding efforts to develop improved varieties, groundnut productivity remains low. Assessing and describing the present groundnut cropping system and production constraints as well as gender dynamics in the main production areas will help in defining the groundnut breeding priorities. Methods A participatory rural appraisal study was conducted in three groundnut production regions (central-eastern, central-northern, and central-western). In each region, 4 villages were selected with a total of 124 farmers interviewed to collect data on socio-demographics, farming systems, cropping practices, and production constraints. Data analysis was carried out for qualitative and quantitative variables using STATA 14. Analysis of variance was conducted across regions and gender, and also between and within regions. Kendall’s coefficients were determined for qualitative variables across regions for the constraints using the pairwise rank. Pearson’s correlation was carried out to assess the relationship between variables, and the chi-square test was used to assess the difference in farmer preferences. Results The study revealed a cropping system of groundnut in an environment largely affected by climate change and in a subsistence and extensive agriculture. There is a variation in the groundnut cropping system across the regions. Gender plays a key role in the production of the groundnut, and 48.39% of women are engaged in groundnut cropping with less access to land and production resources. A yield gap between men and women was observed with men achieving more yield than women. There was a strong correlation between the use of improved varieties and technical assistance. A strong correlation was observed between farm size and production, and farm size and sex denoting an extensive production. Production constraints, although similar, were perceived and ranked differently between regions. The lack of improved varieties, absence of agricultural credit, lack of production tools, the high price of seeds, the high price of fertilizer, drought, and disease are some of the important constraints affecting groundnut productivity. Conclusion This study provides a recent view of groundnut cropping, allowing a good understanding of the farmers’ situation. The result will contribute to the refining of breeding priorities and guide further activities in groundnut breeding in Burkina Faso.

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