Optimizing yield of improved varieties of millet and sorghum under highly variable rainfall conditions using contour ridges in Cinzana, Mali

Abstract

Background: Low productivity of cereals, the staple food, in Sahelian zone of Cinzana in Mali is caused by a range of factors including but not limited to inherent low soil fertility, and insufficient and inadequate distribution of the rainfall due to high climate variability. In addition, the small amount of rain falls as heavy storms in very short periods of time leading to water losses by runoff which in turn causes a lot of erosion. The two phenomena therefore call for a combination of both strategic (combating erosion) and tactical (coping with inter-and intra-annual rainfall variability) measures to cope with the production uncertainties in such risk-prone environment. As opposed to most farmers' practice of using the same variety, a tactical solution of using varieties of different cycles for different rainfall amounts/patterns was thought to be worth testing. Varieties of different cycles for different rainfall amounts/patterns were combined with a well-known soil and water conservation practice which is the contour ridge tillage (CRT). The combined effects of the two measures on the production of different varieties of sorghum and millet as well as on soil water content were assessed in on-farm participatory trials in five villages. The experiment was run during three consecutive years (2012, 2013 and 2014).Results: A key finding of this research is that regardless of the yearly rainfall amount and provided CRT is used, there were large differences in yields between improved varieties and local ones. This is a result of higher soil water conservation and better response of the improved varieties. Conclusion:The use of CRT increases considerably the yields of improved varieties of the most important staple crops of the Cinzana commune which are millet and sorghum. Thus, the use of these early maturing improved varieties, along with CRT, could be an accessible adaptation strategy to climate variability by farmers.

A watershed approach to managing rainfed agriculture in the semiarid region of southern Mali: integrated research on water and land use

“…A few interventions rock bunds, contour bunds and contour ridge tillage are practiced in the local community to counter the effects of erosion, and composting has been widely promoted and adopted to improve soil fertility, although the authors have observed that composting was applied to the flatter farmlands without proper protection. In southern Mali reports by Traoré et al (2017) and Van der Pol (1991) indicated that uneven rainfall distribution and heavy rain within very short periods of time led to a 40% water loss by runoff, which in turn, caused soil nutrient losses by an amount of 25 kg of N ha −1 year −1 and 20 kg of K ha −1 year −1 .…”

“…The application involves creation of permanent contour ridges covered with perennial grasses, whereby farmers follow the ridges to prepare the farm plot for crop production (Zemadim et al 2014). Other potential benefits of CBT are improving crop yields and household food security (Gigou et al 2006;Traoré et al 2017). Water runoff and erosion were monitored in two adjacent fields.…”

“…For the semiarid region of southern Mali, Falconnier et al (2016) argue that despite the demonstrated impacts of practices such as integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) and crop diversification through cereal-legume rotations or intercropping, wider dissemination of these practices has received scant attention. Smallholder farming in sub-Saharan Africa exhibits wide variability in household resource endowment and in soil fertility (Giller et al 2011) thereby experiencing varying lengths of rainy days from year to year (Traoré et al 2013(Traoré et al , 2017. This has resulted in wide range of yields within the same agro-ecological zone or even within individual farms.…”

Editorial for the Thematic Series in Agriculture & Food Security: Climate-Smart Agriculture Technologies in West Africa: learning from the ground AR4D experiences

“…This includes biophysical agricultural options as tested, validated and reported, in this Thematic Series, by Sanou et al, Buah et al and Traoré et al [16][17][18] who document evidences on how tillage methods, fertilization, crop varieties and cropping systems under varying rainfall conditions in Burkina Faso, Ghana and Mali have impacted productions (Fig. 1: component CSA practices and technologies).…”

“…Overall, this Thematic Series has provided ground evidences on, for instance, (1) the effectiveness of the CSV approach in engaging communities in the sustainable development of their adaptive capacity to CC [15], (2) the performance of specific CSA practices [16,18] and (3) the requirement to match the combination of agriculture technologies/practices to the nature of the given season, i.e. the need to adapt practices to forecasts, as evidenced in Sanou et al [17].…”