• Contact Us
    • Send Feedback
    • Login
    View Item 
    •   Home
    • Journal and Journal Articles
    • Journal and Journal Articles
    • View Item
    •   Home
    • Journal and Journal Articles
    • Journal and Journal Articles
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Browse

    Whole Repository
    CollectionsIssue DateRegionCountryHubAffiliationAuthorsTitlesSubject
    This Sub-collection
    Issue DateRegionCountryHubAffiliationAuthorsTitlesSubject

    My Account

    Login

    Welcome to the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture Research Repository

    What would you like to view today?

    Role of biological nitrogen fixation in legume based cropping systems; a case study of West Africa farming systems

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    U03ArtSangingaRoleInthomNodev.pdf (1.091Mb)
    Date
    2003-05
    Author
    Sanginga, N.
    Type
    Journal Article
    Journal Article
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract/Description
    Nitrogen (N) has been gradually depleted from West African soils and now poses serious threats to food production. Many ways of increasing N supply (e.g. judicious use of inorganic fertilizers and nitrogen-fixing plants) have been tried in West African farming systems. Herbaceous and woody legumes commonly contribute 40–70 kg N ha−1 season. This represents about 30% of the total N applied as residues. Nevertheless and despite repeated demonstrations of the usefulness of green manures in enhancing soil fertility, their practices and adoption are still limited. Promiscuous soyabeans are being used to develop sustainable cropping systems in the moist savannah. Reliable estimates of N2 fixed by soyabeans and their residual N benefits to subsequent cereal crops in the savannah zone of southern Guinea have only infrequently been made. The actual amounts measured varied between 38 and 126 kg N ha−1 assuming that only seeds of soyabeans are removed from the plots, the net N accrual of soil nitrogen ranges between minus 8 kg N ha−1 and plus 47 kg N ha−1 depending on the soyabean cultivar. Residual soyabean N values of 10–24 kg N ha−1 (14–36% of the total N in maize) were obtained in a soyabean-maize rotation. Although cereal yields following legume cultivation have been attributed to greater N accumulation, our data show that the relative increase in maize N was smaller than the relative increase in dry-matter yield. Hence, the increased yields of maize following soybeans are not entirely due to the carry-over of N from soyabean residues (as well as to conservation of soil N) but to other rotational effects as well. It is thus clear that the Nbenefit of Grain Legumes to non-legumes is small compared to the level of N fertilizer use in more intensive cereal production systems but is nevertheless significant in the context of the low amounts of input in subsistence farming.
    https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024192604607
    Multi standard citation
    Permanent link to this item
    https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12478/4227
    Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
    https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024192604607
    IITA Subjects
    Grain Legumes
    Agrovoc Terms
    Soybeans; Cowpeas; Herbaceous; Legumes; Nitrogen; Nitrogen Fixing Trees
    Regions
    Africa; West Africa
    Countries
    Nigeria
    Collections
    • Journal and Journal Articles4835
    copyright © 2019  IITASpace. All rights reserved.
    IITA | Open Access Repository