Maize–legume strip cropping effect on productivity, income, and income risk of farmers in northern Ghana

Rahman, Nurudeen Abdul; Larbi, Asamoah; Kotu, Bekele Hundie; Asante, Mary Otiwaa Osei; Akakpo, Daniel Brain; Mellon-Bedi, S.; Hoeschle‐Zeledon, Irmgard

doi:10.1002/agj2.20536

Cited by 16 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Likewise, comparing the selling value of monoculture chili yields with the selling value of the yields of other component crops in strip intercropping (Table 3). As other strip intercropping, such as maize and legum (Abdul Rahman et al, 2021), strip intercropping maize with chili can provide high income to farmers, but both crop species are highly vulnerable to rainfall variability or water shortages. Planting monocultures in drylands in the rainy season under climate change has a very high risk of total yield loss (Jaya et al, 2020).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Crop Diversification Grown as Strip Intercropping Can Improve Farmers' Return in a Dryland with Sandy Soil

Jaya,

Suheri,

Wangiyana

et al. 2024

jppipa, pendidikan ipa, fisika, biologi, kimia

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Maize and mungbean are two common crops grown in dryland areas with sandy soil structures. This study aimed to explore the potential of adding cayenne pepper to increase crop diversity using strip intercropping (SI) as a potential system to improve farmers' return. There were seven treatments tested: monoculture maize, monoculture mungbean, monoculture cayenne pepper, SI maize and mungbean, SI maize and cayenne pepper, SI mungbean and cayenne pepper, and SI maize, mungbean, and cayenne pepper. The size of the treatment plot was 700 cm × 500 cm, and all the treatments were arranged in a Randomized Block Design with three replications. The study showed no difference in the land equivalent ratio (LER) for all the SI treatments, with a value of around 1.0. This indicates no advantage of SI over monocropping in terms of land usage. However, when the market prices valued the yield of each component crop in SI at harvest, the highest economic value came from monocrop cayenne pepper treatment (IDR 246 million ha-1). All the SI treatments involving cayenne pepper resulted in a higher return than the monoculture of maize or mungbean. The lowest economic value was shown by monoculture mungbean treatment (IDR 33.1 million ha-1). These results indicate that diversifying crops can improve farmers' return, especially by incorporating cayenne pepper in dryland with sandy soil.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Crop Diversification Grown as Strip Intercropping Can Improve Farmers' Return in a Dryland with Sandy Soil

Jaya,

Suheri,

Wangiyana

et al. 2024

jppipa, pendidikan ipa, fisika, biologi, kimia

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“…Existing strip cropping literature has lacked systems analysis, the study measured economic payoffs by using partial indicators such as land equivalent ratio, gross margin ratio, monetary equivalent ratio, and/or harvested yields (Francis et al, 1986;Lesoing & Francis, 1999;Rahman et al, 2021;Smith & Carter, 1998;van Oort et al, 2020;Yu et al, 2015), and/or partial budgeting (Exner et al, 1999;Ward et al, 2016;West & Griffith, 1992). The most up-to-date economic analysis of strip cropping was conducted by Ward et al (2016), but they were unable to test the hypothesis of strip cropping profitability with autonomous machines due to a lack of autonomous whole farm operations experience and data.…”

Section: Core Ideasmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Agronomic research on strip cropping with varying height plants has demonstrated the edge effects that increase yields of the taller species and often lead to a yield penalty for shorter crop plants (Jurik & Van, 2004). These studies were conducted in large‐scale farming in the United States (Ward et al., 2016; West & Griffith, 1992) and Argentina (Bravo & Silenzi, 2002; Verdelli et al., 2012), medium‐scale farming in Germany (Munz, Claupein et al., 2014), and small‐scale farming in China (Du et al., 2018; Liu et al., 2022; Munz, Claupein et al., 2014), as well as in Africa (Kermah et al., 2017; Rahman et al., 2021). Research on corn ( Zea mays L.), grain sorghum [ Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench], and soybean [ Glycine max (L.) Merr.]…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Economics of strip cropping with autonomous machines

Al‐Amin,

Lowenberg‑DeBoer,

Erickson

et al. 2024

Agronomy Journal

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Autonomous machines have the potential to maintain food production and agroecological farming resilience. However, autonomous complex mixed cropping is proving to be an engineering challenge because of differences in plant height and growth pattern. Strip cropping is technically the simplest mixed cropping system, but widespread use is constrained by higher labor requirements in conventional mechanized farms. Researchers have long hypothesized that autonomous machines (i.e., crop robots) might make strip cropping profitable, thereby allowing farmers to gain additional agroecological benefits. To examine this hypothesis, this study modeled ex‐ante scenarios for the Corn Belt of central Indiana, using the experience of the Hands Free Hectare‐Linear Programming (HFH‐LP) optimization model. Results show that per annum return to operator labor, management, and risk‐taking (ROLMRT) was $568/ha and $163/ha higher for the autonomous corn (Zea mays L.) and soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] strip crop farm compared to the whole field sole crop and the conventional strip crop farms, respectively, that were operated by human drivers. The conventional strip cropping practice was found challenging as this cropping system required four times more temporary hired labor than autonomous strip cropping and three times more than whole field sole cropping. Even if autonomous machines need 100% human supervision, the ROLMRT was higher compared to whole field sole cropping. Profitable autonomous strip cropping could restore and improve in‐field biodiversity and ecosystem services through a sustainable techno‐economic and environmental approach that will address the demand for healthier food and promote environmental sustainability.

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“…Moreover, the chances of getting yield from at least one of the component crops, even under adverse climatic conditions (e.g., cyclones), is higher than monocropping. Therefore, it has been reported that intercropping could provide a stable yield from the component species [9,10]. However, competition between component crops for resources can significantly reduce yield.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Does Maize-Cowpea Intercropping Maximize Land Use and Economic Return? A Field Trial in Bangladesh

Suhi

Mia

Khanam

et al. 2022

Land

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Cultivating multiple crops together can provide numerous benefits, including improved soil health and crop yield. The objective of our study was to determine the optimum planting techniques in intercropping systems, and to maximize their benefits by mitigating competition for resources such as land, space, light interception, and nutrition. The performance of successively planted maize (Zea mays L.) grown with cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) was evaluated with a field trial in Bangladesh. The treatments in our study were: (a) sole maize, (b) sole cowpea, (c) crops sown simultaneously, and (d) crops sown with different time lags (1, 2, and 3 weeks) between the maize-sowing and cowpea-sowing dates. Data on the crops’ physiological parameters were recorded. These included light interception, leaf area index (LAI), Soil Plant Analysis Development (SPAD), harvest index, and yield. Simultaneously, canopy coverage was measured using camera-based photo analysis. In addition, an economic analysis of intercropping maize with soybean or cowpea was conducted using gross margin analysis and benefit-cost ratio. In our results, the below-canopy photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) was significantly higher in intercropping treatments when maize was sown three weeks after cowpea. In contrast, the LAI value of the maize and cowpea was significantly greater when sown on the same day than in other intercropping treatments. As a result, the maize yield reduced when intercropped with cowpea. This reduction maximized when both species were sown simultaneously due to higher competition for resources, including nutrients and light. Intercropping was more beneficial in terms of land equivalent ratio than both sole cropping of maize and cowpea, especially when maize was planted three weeks later. However, this benefit was not retained when calculated as maize equivalent yield since the contribution of cowpea was small in the overall maize yield, suggesting the importance of the relative economic value of the component species. Among all treatments, the lowest maize equivalent yield (6.03 ± 0.14 t ha−1) was obtained from sole cowpea, and the largest land equivalent ratio (1.67 ± 0.05) was obtained from intercropping with maize sown three weeks after cowpea. This treatment provided a net income of USD 786.32 ± 25.08 ha−1. This study has shown that together, maize–cowpea intercropping with a temporal niche difference of three weeks may be a better option for sustainable crop production in Bangladesh, maximizing land use. However, it may not provide a significantly greater maize equivalent yield and economic return.

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Maize–legume strip cropping effect on productivity, income, and income risk of farmers in northern Ghana

Cited by 16 publications

References 29 publications

Crop Diversification Grown as Strip Intercropping Can Improve Farmers' Return in a Dryland with Sandy Soil

Crop Diversification Grown as Strip Intercropping Can Improve Farmers' Return in a Dryland with Sandy Soil

Economics of strip cropping with autonomous machines

How Does Maize-Cowpea Intercropping Maximize Land Use and Economic Return? A Field Trial in Bangladesh

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