"The 2010 RUFORUM Biennial Conference was the second in the series. The main objective of the Biennial conferences is to provide a platform for agricultural research for development stakeholders in Africa and beyond to actively exchange findings and experiences, while at the same time learning lessons towards improving performance of the agricultural sector and ultimately people’s livelihoods. The biennial conference is RUFORUM’s most comprehensive meeting for the diversity of stakeholers in agriculture. It is especially dedicated to graduate students and their supervisors, grantees in RUFORUM member universities and alumni. It is a platform for peer review, quality control, mentorship, networking and shared learning. This record contains an extended abstract accepted under the theme of agronomy".
Potential of hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth) to improve soil physical properties of sandy soils in central Zimbabwe
Abstract:
Most farmers in the smallholder areas practice conventional
tillage which results in soil loss of between 10-34 t ha-1 yr-1.
Tillage also results in breakdown of macroaggregates into
smaller aggregates as well as primary particles. Close packing
of these will increase the bulk density and decrease porosity,
aeration and root development gradually over the years. These
damaged and depleted soils need to be rebuilt in order to sustain
agriculture and one way of rebuilding these sols is through the
use of legumes such as hairy vetch. Hairy vetch (Vicia Villosa
Roth) has been found to improve soil structure leading to better
soil and water conservation. In this study soil aggregate stability,
hydraulic conductivity and soil porosity, which all influence soil
moisture retention, will be measured on soils planted with hairy
vetch and maize intercrop. Soil and nutrient loss will be
measured using rainfall simulation. In order to make comparisons
cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) and sunhemp (Crotalaria
juncea) will also be included as sole crops and as intercrops
with maize. Preliminary results have so far shown that sunhemp
has the highest biomass production and hairy vetch the
lowest.
La plupart des agriculteurs dans les petites exploitations
pratiquent le labour traditionnel qui entraine la perte de sol
comprise entre 10 à 34 t ha-1 yr-1. Le labour du sol entraine
également à la dépression des macroagrégats en petits agrégats,
ainsi que les particules primaires. Fermer l’emballage de ceuxci
va augmenter la densité apparente et diminuer la porosité,
l’aération et le développement des racines peu à peu au fil des
années. Ces sols endommagés et appauvris doivent être
reconstruits afin de soutenir l’agriculture et un moyen de
reconstruction de ces sols est l’utilisation de légumineuses
comme la vesce velue. La vesce velue (Vicia Villosa Roth) a
été trouvée pour améliorer la structure du sol permettant une meilleure conservation des sols et de l’eau. Dans cette étude, la
stabilité des agrégats de sol, la conductivité hydraulique et la
porosité du sol, qui toutes influencent la rétention de l’humidité
du sol, seront mesurées sur les sols plantés de vesce velue et de
maïs intercalés. La perte de sol et de nutriments sera mesurée
à l’aide de simulation de pluie. Afin de faire des comparaisons,
le niébé (Vigna unguiculata) et la crotalaire (Crotalaria
juncea) seront également inclus en tant que cultures pures et
comme cultures intercalaires de maïs. Les résultats préliminaires
ont montré jusqu’à présent que la crotalaire a la plus forte
production de biomasse et la vesce velue la plus basse.
Language:
English
Date of publication:
2010
Country:
Region Focus:
Southern Africa
University/affiliation:
Collection:
RUFORUM Conferences and Workshops
Agris Subject Categories:
Agrovoc terms:
Additional keywords:
Licence conditions:
Open Access
Access restriction:
Form:
Printed resource
Publisher:
ISSN:
E_ISSN:
Edition:
Extent:
167-172
Notes:
