Combining napier grass with leguminous shrubs in contour hedgerows controls soil erosion without competing with crops

Mutegi, James; Mugendi, Daniel N.; Verchot, Louis; Kung’u, J.B.

doi:10.1007/s10457-008-9152-3

Cited by 67 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…However, only a limited number of studies are available about its roots. Thus, some reports describe Napier grass as a shallow rooting species based on the visual observation of its extensive surface root system [14,15], while others consider it a deep rooting species, based again on visual observations [16]. Recently, Ma et al (2012) [17] reported that more than 80% of the root mass of hybrid giant Napier grass was found in soil depths of 0 -0.25 m when evaluating soil to a depth of 1 m, leading to the assumption that this plant is a shallow rooting species.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distribution and Quantity of Root Systems of Field-Grown Erianthus and Napier Grass

Sekiya¹,

Shiotsu²,

Abe³

et al. 2013

AJPS

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Cellulosic bioethanol produced from non-edible plants reduces potential food-fuel competition and, as such, is receiving increasing attention. In the raw material production of cellulosic bioethanol, the aboveground biomass of plants is entirely harvested; consequently, the plant roots represent the major source of organic matter incorporated into the soil. We selected Erianthus and Napier grass as the raw materials for cultivation in Asia. However, information about whether these 2 species provide sufficient root volume to sustain soil fertility is limited. Therefore, we examined the spatial distribution of the roots of these 2 plants, and quantified root mass and length. Erianthus and Napier grass were either grown in fields or greenhouses in Tokyo (Japan) and Lampung (Indonesia), and then their roots were exposed from adjacent soil profiles. Both species developed large, deep roots, penetrating 2.0 -2.6 m deep into the soil. Root depth indexes showed that the roots of both species penetrated much deeper into the soil compared to monocot crop species, being more comparable to dicot species. Erianthus developed a root mass and length of 384 -850 g·m −2 and 28.8 -35.8 km·m , respectively. These values exceeded the maximum values previously recorded for common crop species. Our study confirmed that Erianthus and Napier grass develop deep root systems, with substantially large biomass; hence, we suggest that both plants supply root biomass in large quantities, representing possible major sources of soil organic matter.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distribution and Quantity of Root Systems of Field-Grown Erianthus and Napier Grass

Sekiya¹,

Shiotsu²,

Abe³

et al. 2013

AJPS

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“…Due to its low requirements for growth conditions and environmental friendliness, Leucaena leucocephala has been a pioneer afforestation tree in dryhot valleys (Bai et al 2004). Many researchers consider it can improve soil quality through SOC sequestration, enhancement of soil fertility and compatibility with soil microbes (Isaac et al 2003;Mutegi et al 2008;Habte and Antal 2010). Relative to the bare soil and Eucalyptus camaldulensis, restoring Leucaena leucocephala to the slope area positively affected SOM content and N content (Table 2).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of vegetation restoration types on soil quality in Yuanmou dry-hot valley, China

Peng

Chen

Fang

et al. 2013

Soil Science and Plant Nutrition

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Soil erosion has resulted in serious land degradation in Yuanmou dry-hot valley, Yunnan province, China. Vegetation restoration had been widely developed in this hot and arid area. In this work we investigate the quality of rhizosphere soils under four restoration species in the towns of Zuolin (gully bed) and Yuanma (slope area). [pH, soil organic matter, nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) contents], and microbial (microbial biomass and microbe quantity) properties and soil enzyme (catalase, protease and urease) activities were determined. Compared to the soils collected from other vegetation types, the soil under Leucaena leucocephala had the highest content of soil organic matter, total N, available N, total P, available P, available K, microbial biomass carbon (C), and the highest microbe quantity and enzyme activities. Five parameters (organic matter, pH, microbial biomass N, total K and protease activity), which had the greatest weight in the principal components analysis, were selected to calculate the soil quality index (SQI). The final SQI values implied that restoring Leucaena leucocephala greatly improved the soil quality, while restoration with Eucalyptus camaldulensis decreased the soil quality of the slope area. Plant recovery with Dodonaea viscosa and Heteropogon contortus on the gully bed affected the population of soil microbial communities but didn't improve the SQI values. It can therefore be seen that types of plants used for recovery in gully-developed regions in dry-hot valleys must be chosen cautiously: Leucaena leucocephala is a good choice for soil revegetation of the slope area, but the revegetation patterns on the gully bed still need further study.

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“…This decline may occur through leaching, soil erosion and crop harvesting (Muchena et al, 2005;Mutegi et al, 2008).…”

Section: Introductonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of organic and inorganic fertilizer applications on phosphate solubilizing bacteria in the rhizosphere of maize (Zea mays L.)

Richard¹,

Ogunjobi²

2016

Afr. J. Microbiol. Res.

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A field experiment was conducted between August and October, 2014 at the Department of Microbiology to assess the effect of organic and inorganic fertilizers on the population and activities of Phosphate Solubilizing Bacteria (PSB) in the rhizosphere of maize variety BR9928DMRSR-Y. Three treatment groups were used in the study and these were: Groups which received applications of organic fertilizer (Poultry litter) alone, groups which received applications of inorganic fertilizer (NPK) and the third group which was the control (CON) did not receive any fertilizer application. A total of twenty-three bacteria were isolated and in-vitro screening was done for different phosphate solubilization activity. The study revealed that maximum population of total heterotrophic bacteria (26.8×10 9 CFU/g) was obtained with organic fertilizer (OM) tre atment. Among the different PSB isolates, OMPSB had the highest bacterial count of 10.2×10 9 . The lowest bacterial populations were obtained from IFPSB with 6.0×10 9 CFU/g. Out of the 23 PSB isolates, 18 were positive for phosphate solubilization with OMPSB8 showing the highest zone with 16 mm. Results showed that application of organic fertilizers enhanced the bacterial population and also showed increase in phosphate solubilization activities in rhizosphere soil compared to NPK and control treatments. This shows that organic fertilizers would be able to sustain the soil fertility for a longer period by meeting the demand of present and future generations.

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Combining napier grass with leguminous shrubs in contour hedgerows controls soil erosion without competing with crops

Cited by 67 publications

References 34 publications

Distribution and Quantity of Root Systems of Field-Grown Erianthus and Napier Grass

Distribution and Quantity of Root Systems of Field-Grown Erianthus and Napier Grass

Effects of vegetation restoration types on soil quality in Yuanmou dry-hot valley, China

Effect of organic and inorganic fertilizer applications on phosphate solubilizing bacteria in the rhizosphere of maize (Zea mays L.)

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