Alley cropping kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus) with leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala) in south-eastern Queensland

1988 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 481 ◽  
Author(s):  
RC Gutteridge

Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus) was intercropped for 3 seasons between hedgerows of leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala) spaced 3 or 5 m apart on an infertile soil at Mt Cotton, south-eastern Queensland. The leucaena was cut at a height of25 or 50 cm, 2 or 4 times per season and the fresh material spread as a mulch between the rows of kenaf. The yield of kenaf from mulched plots was compared with that from plots fertilised with nitrogen as urea at 0, 50 or 100 kg N/ ha.year. In the third season, kenaf yield from the mulched plots was maintained at about 4.7 t DM/ha, whereas that from the control and urea fertilised plots declined by about 30%. However, phosphorus deficiency in the unmulched plots was suspected and this may have contributed to the lower yield. Leucaena row spacing had no significant effect on kenaf yield. Leucaena yield ranged from 2 to 4 t DM/ha per season. Cutting height had no significant effect on leucaena yield, but less frequent pruning gave a higher yield in the second and third seasons. The results confirm the potential of alley cropping to sustain arable crop yield at a moderate level without high inputs of inorganic fertilisers.

1970 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
MAT Sohel ◽  
MAB Siddique ◽  
M Asaduzzaman ◽  
MN Alam ◽  
MM Karim

An experiment was conducted at the Agronomy Field Laboratory, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh from July to December 2004 to evaluate the effect of hill spacing on the performance of BRRI dhan40 and BRRI dhan41 as Transplant aman crop. The experiment consisted of five hill spacings viz., 5cm. 10cm, 15 cm, and 25 cm where row to row spacing of 25 cm was kept constant for all treatments. The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design with four replications. The 25 cm x 5 cm hill spacing produced the tallest plant, highest total number of tillers/hill, bearing tillers/hill lowest number of non-hearing tillers/hill, grain yield and harvest index, while 25 cm x 5 cm hill spacing produced the highest number of sterile spikelets/panicle, straw yield and biological yield. BRRI dhan41 produced higher grain yield (4.7 t/ha) which was the contribution of higher number of grains/panicle and heavier grain weight. Lower yield (4.51 t/ha) was recorded in BRRI dhan40.Key Words: Varietal performance; T. aman rice; hill density.DOI: 10.3329/bjar.v34i1.5750Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 34(1) : 33-39, March 2009


1988 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 377 ◽  
Author(s):  
GJ Leach ◽  
DF Beech

Interception of radiation by chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.), in a year of below-average rainfall, and water use in both wet and dry years, were studied on a deep vertisol soil at Dalby, south-eastern Queensland. Measurements were made on 4 accessions (cv. Tyson, K223, CPI 56287 and CPI 56289) grown at a number of row spacings. Canopies intercepted less than 20% of incident radiation during the first 70 days after sowing (DAS) in the dry year (1980) before radiation interception reached a peak in mid-September (100 DAS) at about 70% interception in 250 mm rows. Above-ground dry matter was linearly related to intercepted radiation to the end of September (119 DAS), giving an efficiency of radiation conversion of 1.4 g DM per MJ of intercepted photosynthetically active radiation. Efficiency of conversion was marginally higher with 125 mm than with 62.5 mm intra-row spacing in rows 250 mm apart. In a wet year (1979), chickpea extracted water from below 1 m depth in the soil profile and used 356 mm water. In the dry year, only 16 1 mm water was used and none was extracted from below 1 m. K223 used water faster than cv. Tyson, and extraction was faster with close than with wide row spacing. Above-ground dry matter was produced at an efficiency of 3.4 (1980) to 4.2 (1979) g m-2 mm-I of water during the main period of growth through September, and a mean of 0.7 g m-2 seed for 2 seasons was produced per mm of water used over the whole season. The small differences in water extraction between accessions and spacing treatments were reflected during pod-filling as differences in plant water potential of 0.1-0.2 MPa during the early afternoon stress period. Chickpea appears to have poor stomata1 control over water loss, being comparable to summer legumes like soybean rather than to cowpea. We conclude that the benefit of close row spacing in enhancing radiation interception outweighs the small disadvantage from accelerated water depletion. The ability of chickpea to produce useful seed yields over a wide range of soil water availability makes it well suited for opportunistic winter cropping.


1988 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 367 ◽  
Author(s):  
DF Beech ◽  
GJ Leach

Six accessions of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.), representing both desi and kabuli types, were grown at a range of row spacings (180-710 mm) in 3 experiments on a vertisol at Dalby, south-eastern Queensland to assess their adaptation and yield potential. Row spacing and sowing density (28-1 12 seeds m-2) were confounded in 2 experiments where intra-row density was constant, but were varied independently in the third. Differences in yield between accessions were either small or not significant in 1979, with above-average water availability (mean seed yield: 253 g m-2), and in 1980, when water was severely limited (mean seed yield: 79 and 120 g m-2 in the 2 experiments). However, the proportion of seed that was machine-harvestable was highest in the commercial cv. Tyson (71%), and also at the closest row spacing (83%). Seed nitrogen concentration was about 0.5% higher in cv. Tyson than in other accessions. It declined with an increase in row spacing and was associated with a higher proportion of small seeds. We conclude that there will be scope for alternatives to cv. Tyson as new market opportunities develop. Furthermore, the flexibility in its growth pattern makes chickpea well suited to the variable moisture regime of the wheatlands of subtropical eastern Australia.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 417
Author(s):  
Larissa Brandao Portela ◽  
Anagila Janenis Cardoso Silva ◽  
Gustavo André de Araújo Santos ◽  
Joab Luhan Ferreira Pedrosa ◽  
Conceição De Maria Batista de Oliveira ◽  
...  

The research compared biomass production and nutrient release in an alley cropping system in two collection methods, the litterbag method and the direct collection method (Morley, Bennett, & Clark, 1964). The system was implemented in 2015 at 2017, at the Maranhão Federal University, Maranhão, Brazil. The experiment was a randomized block design with four treatments, consisting of leucaena+sombreiro (Leucaena leucocephala and Clitoria fairchildiana), leucena+acacia (Leucaena leucocephala and Acacia mangium), gliricidia+sombreiro (Gliricidia sepium and Clitoria fairchildiana) and gliricidia+acacia (Gliricidia sepium and Acacia mangium). In order to determine the remaining dry matter, nutrient release (N, P, K, Ca, Mg and Mn), the decomposition constants and the half-lives times of plant residues, 100 g of fresh material were conditioned in litterbags (50 g of each species), arranged on the soil surface. The second method was done by randomly throwing a collector on each plot in the same dimensions of the litterbags (0.40 x 0.40 m) and collecting the litter. For the two methods samples were collected at 0, 30, 60, 90 and 120 days after the start of the experiment. The litterbags method showed a higher C/N ratio at day 30 up to 120 days, which implies that this method is providing a different environment from the litter, where it would be overestimating the C/N ratio and retarding the decomposition. The G+S and G+A combinations were more rapidly decomposed than the combinations of L+S and L+A. The following order of release was established for the litterbags method: P > N > K > Ca > Mn > Mg, and for the method of collecting the litter: N > P > Ca > Mg > K > Mn.


1981 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. T. Kang ◽  
G. F. Wilson ◽  
L. Sipkens

2009 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 1473-1480 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alana das Chagas Ferreira Aguiar ◽  
Andreia Pereira Amorim ◽  
Katia Pereira Coêlho ◽  
Emanoel Gomes de Moura

A sustainable management of soils with low natural fertility on family farms in the humid tropics is a great challenge and overcoming it would be an enormous benefit for the environment and the farmers. The objective of this study was to assess the environmental and agronomic benefits of alley cropping, based on the evaluation of C sequestration, soil quality indicators, and corn yields. Combinations of four legumes were used in alley cropping systems in the following treatments: Clitoria fairchildiana + Cajanus cajan; Acacia mangium + Cajanus cajan; Leucaena leucocephala + Cajanus cajan; Clitoria fairchildiana + Leucaena leucocephala; Leucaena leucocephala + Acacia mangium and a control. Corn was used as a cash crop. The C content was determined in the different compartments of soil organic matter, CEC, available P, base saturation, percentage of water saturation, the period of the root hospitality factor below the critical level and corn yield. It was concluded that alley cropping could substitute the slash and burn system in the humid tropics. The main environmental benefit of alley cropping is the maintenance of a dynamic equilibrium between C input and output that could sustain up to 10 Mg ha-1 of C in the litter layer, decreasing atmospheric CO2 levels. Alley cropping is also beneficial from the agricultural point of view, because it increases base saturation and decreases physical resistance to root penetration in the soil layer 0 - 10 cm, which ensures the increase and sustainability of corn yield.


1987 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-40
Author(s):  
S. Hälvä

A study was undertaken to determine the row spacing and cutting height of dill to produce a good quality herb in terms of high proportion of leaves. The row spacings were 12.5 or 25 cm, and the herb was harvested to the stubbles of 7.5, 11 or 15 cm. The greatest dry leaf yield, 8 kg/100 m2, was achieved with the narrow row spacing and lowest stubble. The proportion of leaves of the dry herb was highest (68 %) when cut to the highest stubble. The difference in the yields between the cuttings of 7.5 and 15 cm was significant, only. The relation between the dry and fresh yields (11 %) remained unaffected.


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