R. J. Carsky's research while affiliated with Africa Rice Center (Africarice) and other places
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Publications (66)
Crop management without fertilizer input, which is commonly practiced by most farmers in the humid forest zone of West and
Central Africa, requires soil fertility replenishment during a fallow period. Hypothetical relationships between fallow length
and crop yields assume, that after the cropping phase replenishment starts with high annual incremen...
Resource-conserving technologies are urgently needed in West Africa and the Republic of Benin, where population density is
high and soil fertility is fast decreasing. In the late 1980s, a development-oriented research project, Recherche Appliquée
en Milieu Réel (Applied Research On-farm) of the Beninoise government’s Institut National des Recherche...
Phosphorus fertilizer was applied at two rates to four soyabean varieties of different duration to maturity at four sites. The P rate had no significant (p > 0.05) interaction with site or variety. TGx1670-1F, one of the two late varieties, had the highest levels of total P (11 kg/ha) and apparent fertilizer P recovery (15%). Copyright © 2006 John...
The parasitic witchweed, Striga hermonthica (Del.) Benth, is the greatest biological constraint for cereal crop production by resource-poor farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. Maize, Zea mays L., is a widely grown cereal crop in this region (22 × 106 ha). Striga-resistant maize populations were produced and tested as half-sib families in West and Centra...
A study was carried out to determine the effect of P fertilizer and maturity class (days to maturity) on nodulation and N2 fixation by soybean in the Nigerian moist savanna (NMS). One early (TGx1485-1D), one medium (TGx536-02D), and two late (TGx923-2E and TGx1670-1F) soybean varieties were sown at four sites in NMS with P application rates of 0, 3...
Maize is the primary food crop grown by farmers in the coastal savanna region of Togo and Benin on degraded (rhodic ferralsols), low in soil K-supplying capacity, and non-degraded (plinthic acrisols) soils. Agronomic trials were conducted during 1999–2002 in southern Togo on both soil types to investigate the impact of N and P fertilization and the...
Market opportunities will drive intensification of cassava production and fertilizer will play a role in this. A trial was initiated on 15 farmers fields (replications) in one village territory in Benin on a relatively fertile sedimentary soil site to identify nutrients limiting cassava yield using nutrient omission plots over three cropping years....
The contributions of soya bean (Glycine max) to the maintenance of soil N, organic matter and physical properties in any cropping system is dependent on the amount of the crop residue returned after grain harvest. This amount of residue is a function of the dry matter accumulated during growth. In the topical moist savanna (MS) of West Africa where...
Cassava (Manihot
esculenta) returns organic matter and nutrients to the soil through leaf litter and these amounts need to be quantified to help understand and design sustainable cropping systems. Our objectives were to estimate dry matter and nutrient contents in cassava leaf litter and to derive relationships between litter fall and easily measur...
To reduce severe soil degradation associated with agriculture an intensified land-use system is being promoted in West African countries. Most soils of the West African savanna zones are so poor that the efficiency of mineral fertilizers, if applied, is very low. For this reason and because of their high cost and unavailability, many small-scale fa...
Earlier reports have confirmed the technical feasibility and socio-economic acceptability of some integrated Striga control packages (ISCOPA) at farmers’ level. However, the performance of ISCOPA based on the synthetic varieties of maize have not been consistent. With the development of new open pollinated low management requiring Striga-tolerant m...
This study investigated the effect of maturity class on phosphorus (P) balance in a soyabean-maize rotation in the West African moist savanna.F our soyabean varieties of different maturity classes were grown with or without P fertilizer followed by a maize crop. Soyabean stover P content averaged 1.77 kg ha−1 compared with 5.13 kg ha−1 in the grain...
Sustainable resource management is the critical agricultural research and development challenge in sub-Saharan Africa. The accumulated knowledge on soil management gathered over the last 10 years, combined with solid crop improvement and plant health research at farmers’ level, has brought us to a stage where we can now address with confidence the...
Nitrate is prone to leaching in the sandy soils of the West African moist savannas. Better management of nitrogen (N) resources and maize cultivars with enhanced genetic capacity to capture and utilize soil and fertilizer N are strategies that could improve N-use efficiency. In two field experiments conducted at Zaria, northern Nigeria, five maize...
Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) is becoming increasingly important in the cereal-based cropping system of the Nigerian Guinea savanna zone and this justifies research on its effects on soil N. Although soybean can obtain 50% or more of its N requirement from the atmosphere, the N contribution of the crop to the system depends on the amount of N co...
Legume–cereal rotation may reduce the fertilizer requirement of the cereal crop and we hypothesize that the benefit depends on the maturity class of the soybean. Field trials were therefore conducted in 1995 in four Guinea savanna sites to monitor the effect of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) cultivation on the N balance of the soil. In trial 1,...
Good growth of grain legumes helps food security and protection of the environment but this may require nutrient inputs. A participatory technology development activity explored from 1998 to 2000 the responses of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) and soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) to inorganic soil amendments (P and K) on terre de barre soils with diffe...
Field trials were replicated at four sites in the moist savanna ecological zone of West Africa to study the effect of maturity class and phosphorus (P) rate on grain yield and total protein yield (TPY) of some new soya bean varieties. Grain yield and TPY averaged 1.43 Mg ha−1 and 587 kg ha−1, respectively. Without P application grain yield and TPY...
In southern Bénin, the legume cover crop Mucuna
pruriens var. utilis has been widely promoted for soil fertility improvement. Recent findings have shown, however, that the majority of farmers have not adopted it, and that alternative technologies are needed that are both attractive to farmers and beneficial in terms of soil fertility. A survey was...
Mucuna pruriens performs well as a green manure/cover crop (GMCC) but has been poorly adopted because it lacks – or is perceived to lack – uses as a food and feed. The latter perception has persisted despite its extensive utilization as a feed in the early 20 th century and its consumption as a minor food crop in numerous countries in Africa and As...
Leguminous rotations and fallows are sustainable and productive soil management practices. This paper will focus on soybean (Glycine max) and cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) rotation in the mono- modal savanna and Mucuna (Mucuna pruriens var. utilis) fallow in the bi-modal savanna zone. Although the grain legumes export considerable N in the grain, they...
There are many legume-based technologies capable of regenerating soil fertility but few are being adopted by farmers in West Africa. At the IITA we found that alley cropping and cover cropping systems are biologically sustainable but have low adoption by farmers in the medium term. Negative reactions by farmers stimulated us to consider grain legum...
Growing soybean varieties with high residue yield may help to sustain the soil organic matter (SOM) content when recycled. Replicated field trials were conducted in four Guinea savanna sites in Nigeria to study the dry matter partitioning in six soybean genotypes and evaluate them for biomass production. The varieties were early TGx1485-1D and late...
Speargrass [Imperata cylindrica (L.) Raeuschel] is a noxious weed widespread in most tropical zones of the world. Studies were conducted in the savannah of West Africa from 1997 to 1999 to evaluate crop yield, speargrass control, and net benefit from the use of cover crops integrated with handweeding and chemical control in maize and cassava. Glyph...
This study was carried out to assess the carbon returned in soyabean crop residues as a function of soyabean maturity class and P fertilizer. Three levels of P were applied to four soyabean varieties in three replications at four sites. Late varieties gave greater root + litter C input than early and medium varieties, and their responses to P were...
A synthesis of results from the savanna zone of West Africa suggests that cowpea rotation can be considered to be an effective resource management technology in cereal-based systems. Part of the N requirement of cereal crops can be satisfi ed by cowpea crop rotation. Furthermore, benefi ts of cowpea rotation are sometimes higher than expected based...
The benefit of planted fallow with legume cover crops may be limited on P deficient soil. A trial was conducted at two P deficient
sites in northern Nigeria to test the hypothesis that application of P to legume cover crop fallow can substitute for N application
to subsequent maize. Mainplots consisted of leguminous fallows followed by unfertilized...
In the moist savanna zone with a 180 to 190 day growing period, early season cowpea immediately followed by a late season cereal crop can maximize the benefit of the legume to the cereal. Traditional cereal crops for this system are millet and sorghum but new early maize varieties can also be used. A study was conducted to estimate the contribution...
The northern Guinea savanna is generally known to be suitable for the production of annual crops of short-to-medium duration but is threatened with soil degradation because of inadequate organic inputs. Trees can be one important source of organic supplement to crop fields. Farmers' preferences for trees are related to a myriad of needs which vary...
The availability of P from rock phosphate (RP) is often too low to demonstrate an immediate impact on cereal production. Legumes may improve the immediate availability of P from RP and eventually benefit subsequent maize crops. The ability of Mucuna pruriens (L.) var utilis (Wright) Burck and Lablab purpureus L. to use P from RP and the changes in...
Mucuna pruriens and Lablab purpureus can immediately benefit from rock phosphate (RP), but as both herbaceous legumes have only limited economic value, these benefits are only meaningful if yields of a subsequent maize crop are improved. The impact of RP application to Mucuna and Lablab on grain yield, total N, and total P uptake of a subsequent ma...
Striga hermonthica is a serious parasite of cereals in most of the semi-arid savanna zone of West Africa, causing substantial yield loss. It has been observed that some soybean cultivars are capable of stimulating germination of S, hermonthica seed, which would reduce the seed bank in the soil. This study was undertaken to quantify the effect of a...
Traditional shifting cultivation systems can no longer be sustained in West Africa because of rapid increases in human and livestock populations. Short-duration, improved fallows are among the alternative land-management strategies that have evolved. This paper reviews how velvetbean or mucuna (Mucuna pruriens) and stylo (Stylosanthes hamata and St...
Integrated soil management with leguminous cover crops was studied at two sites in the northern Guinea savanna zone of northern Nigeria, Kaduna (190 day growing season) and Bauchi (150 days). One-year planted fallows of mucuna, lablab, and crotalaria were compared with natural grass fallow and cowpea controls. All treatments were followed by a maiz...
To improve efficiency of soil N and water use in the savanna, maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars with improved root systems are required. Two rainfed field experiments were conducted in Samaru, Nigeria in the 1993 and 1994 growing seasons with five maize cultivars under various rates of nitrogen fertilizer. The capacity of maize for rapid early root gro...
It has been difficult to explain the rotation effect based solely on N availability in maize-soybean cropping systems in
the moist savanna zone of sub-Saharan Africa. Although arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can contribute to plant growth by
reducing stresses resulting from other nutrient deficiencies (mainly P) and drought, their role in the m...
Farmer-managed tests of Strigahermonthica-resistant maize varieties were conducted in 1994 in a moderately intensified zone in the northern Guinea savanna of Nigeria. Field history, soil properties, current season fertility management, and crop management observations were recorded for 37 farmer-managed trials. Site averages for maize grain yield v...
The response of 8 leguminous cover crops to phosphorus (P) application (7.5 mg P2O5 kg soil or 15 kg P2O5 ha to the depth of 15 cm) on soils with variable history was evaluated in a pot trial supplemented with a field experiment in 1993. The soil from a livestock farmer's field showed higher total organic carbon content and extractable cations comp...
The contribution of root and leaf litter to soil nitrogen dynamics, nitrogen uptake and balance was evaluated under cereal–legume rotations in a tropical moist savanna soil. Two legumes, soyabean (Glycine
max) and stylo (Stylosanthes
hamata), and maize (Zea
mays) as a control were grown in four farmers' fields of different native fertility in 1993....
Two varieties of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) and a maize (Zea mays L.) control crop were grown in replicated trials at 10 sites in the Guinea savana of Nigeria in 1993 followed by a test crop of maize in 1994 with 20 or 60 kg N ha-1 to test effect of soybean on subsequent maize grain yield. Maize grain yield increase following soybean was vari...
Twelve herbaceous and shrub legume species were grown in pot and field experiments in five sites representing three agroecological zones in moist savanna in Nigeria. The objectives were to: (1) assess natural nodulation of the legumes and characterize their indigenous rhizobia, (2) determine their need for rhizobia inoculation and (3) estimate the...
Striga hermonthica, an obligate root parasite of grasses, is one of the most severe constraints to cereal production in sub-Saharan Africa. In the recent past, prior to increased production pressure on land, S. hermonthica was controlled in African farming systems by prolonged crop rotations with bush fallow. Because of increasing need for food and...
The symbiotic performance of promiscuous soybeans depends upon the population size, effectiveness and survival of indigenous or introduced rhizobia in the field. A pot experiment was conducted using soils collected from 13 farmers' fields located in two agroecological zones (northen and southern Guinea savanna) in the moist savanna of Nigeria to de...
The success of inland valley crop production in humid and subhumid areas of subSaharan Africa depends on the availability of appropriate crop varieties with some tolerance to excess moisture. Performance of upland crop associations [cassava (Manihot esculenta) + sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) and cassava + soybean (Glycine max)] was observed in a t...
This chapter discusses the highlights of the recent research on Mucuna as a food and feed crop andoutlines the future agenda
based on the products of the working groups that met at the end of the workshop.Good progress has been made in recent
research. The promising results in ruminant animal studies mean that efforts to promote Mucuna as a ruminan...
Citations
... In addition, the majority of this region's agricultural soils are not managed sustainably (Tully et al. 2015;N'Dri et al. 2019), making them good candidates for SOC storage strategies (Sousa Junior et al. 2018;Fan et al. 2020). To improve soil fertility in the savannas of Côte d'Ivoire (West Africa), herbaceous legume-based fallows have been implemented for two decades (Kouassi 2000;Carsky et al. 2001;Koné et al. 2008Koné et al. , 2020. These man-made fallows have the potential to produce high and quality biomass in a short period of time, fostering soil biological processes and resulting in improvements in SOC content, soil structural stability, nutrient levels and use efficiency and agronomic yields (Azontonde et al. 1998;Fofana et al. 2005). ...
... Se ha documentado que algunas especies de leguminosas como Mucuna sp. y Canavalia ensiformis mejoran la producción de maíz (Sanginga et al., 1996) y controlan las arvenses (Carsky et al., 1998). Sin embargo, la adopción de este sistema en el sureste de México ha sido baja debido a la falta de información sobre sus beneficios, por lo anterior, la presente investigación tuvo como objetivo evaluar el crecimiento y rendimiento del cultivo de Maíz criollo (Zea mays L.) en un sistema de monocultivo y en asociación con dos especies de leguminosas. ...
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... Despite this importance, yam productivity is declining. This decrease is due, as indicated in numerous works (Carsky et al., 1998;Diby et al., 2009Diby et al., , 2012Hgaza et al., 2012;Cornet et al., 2014;Cornet, 2015) to the low ...
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... Nematode populations were suppressed by an application of organic manure at the rate of 1.5 kg (mound) 71 or 1886.3 kg ha 71 and increase the yield of tubers (IITA/NS 1986; Caveness 1992). In the southern Guinea savanna of Nigeria, previous leguminous cover crops increased yam tuber yield by between 1 and 16% compared with the control (no cover crops) (Tian et al. 1998). Mucuna and Pueraria cover crops showed a positive effect on Archives of Agronomy and Soil Science 7 subsequent cassava tuber yield, and such effect was pronounced for Pueraria with NPK fertilizer application (Tian and Kolawole unpublished data). ...
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... The enhanced friability also gave better seedbeds under direct drill. Using results from 34 farmer trials, Carsky et al. (1998) showed a diminishing yield response to fertilisers as soil organic carbon increased from 0.5% to 2.0%; this confirmed the capacity of soil organic matter to act as a nutrient supply. ...
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... Advantages in maize grain yields in pueraria (Tian et al., 2000(Tian et al., , 2001 and mucuna fallow systems (Carsky et al., 2001) have been demonstrated across West and Central Africa. The maize grain yields attained in this trial, in an environment not particularly suitable for maize, are well within the range of those attained in other African Countries (1.13-2.03 ...
... Mucuna is effective in lowering the nematode population (Queneherve et al. 1998) [29] . It gives seed yield about 1.3 to 2.4 t/ha and yield of total biomass is 20-30 t/ha and dry matter was 7-9 t/ha (Carsky et al. 1998) [11] . Thus it is considered as one of the most productive legumes of the world (Fujii et al. 1991) [13] . ...
... Although the green manure legumes in the weed fallow improved soil nitrogen and organic carbon as compared to soil before sowing, their adoption by farmers has remained limited. All efforts to promote them among farmers and evidence of their beneficial effects on soil fertility and cereal yields have been futile (Muhr et al., 1999;Carsky et al., 2001). This is likely related to a general reluctance of farmers to invest land, labour and seed in a technology that does not provide a quick economic return on investments (Schulz et al., 2001). ...
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... They are helpful for their soil amendment and nutritional diet for human consumption (Chianu et al., 2006;Misiko, 2007). Soybean varieties are known to encourage Striga germination but are not parasitized themselves (Carsky et al., 2000;Sanginga et al., 2001). S. hermonthica seeds have differences in relative germination to varieties of soybean as a result of the levels of crop stimulants. ...
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... These characteristics make monoculture systems less resilient to stress [17]. The inclusion of legumes in cereal-based rotations together with the appropriate use of nutrient inputs are considered to be the key to the rehabilitation and maintenance of soil fertility and productivity in intensifying cereal-based systems [18] [19]. Vetch and pea are well adapted to the soil and climate in the Mediterranean and North African regions, including Morocco [20] [21]. ...
