Effects of management practices on legume productivity in smallholder farming systems in sub ‐Saharan Africa

Graphical abstract on the effects of management practices on legume productivity in sub-Saharan Africa. The meta-analysis focused on the effect of key management practices on legume productivity in sub-Saharan Africa. Intercropping involving legumes increase the overall productivity, while inoculation and phosphorus application increase legume yields. Various factors including soil organic carbon and soil pH help further explain the variation on legume productivity in response to different management practices. AbstractLegumes play a key role in food and nutrition security, providing livestock feed and contributing to soil fertility, in mixed smallholder farms in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The environmental conditions under which smallholder farming is practiced are highly heterogeneous with large differences in management practices among farms resulting in variable legume productivity. A meta-analysis based on 128 publications was conducted to quantify the effects of intercropping, inoculation with rhizobia, minimum tillage and phosphorus application on legume grain and biomass yield and the amount of biological nitrogen fixation in a range of SSA contexts. To further explain the heterogeneity in the results, legume species, type of inoculant, P-application rate, altitude, rainfall, soil characteristics and non-legume companion crops were used as moderators. Intercropping as compared to sole cropping reduced legume biomass and grain yields to varying extents, although the tot...
Source: Food and Energy Security - Category: Food Science Authors: Tags: REVIEW Source Type: research