Techniques of Domestication and Carbon Sequestration of Jatropha curcas Associated with Vigna unguiculata in Marginal Soil of Garoua Region, Cameroon

Abstract

Abstract:In order to reduce the increase of fuel prices, and improve the living conditions of the population, a study was carried out by Convention No. 1/IRAD/PCS ESA2-SDCC in the region of Garoua in Cameroon. The study aimed to characterize the behaviour of J. curcas associated with V. unguiculata in marginal soils in the Sahel region in order to improve the livelihoods of the farmers and promote its domestication in rural areas. It also aimed at pointing out the influence of two implantation techniques of J. curcas on the germination, the different quantities of NPK and cow dung, planting techniques and association with V. unguiculata var. lori on growth parameters of development and yield of J. curcas on the degraded marginal soils in the region. The experimental design was a completely randomized block with five levels of fertilization (F0: control; F1: 50 g; F2: 100 g of NPK 15-20-15; F3: 1 kg and 2 kg of cow dung) per plant. Two types of establishment propagator (Ge) and direct seedling (Se) with three replications were used. Data were analysed by Stratigraphic + and XLSTAT. Results showed that the propagator germination was higher than the direct seeding, 95% and 40% respectively. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of the parameters of growths and yield of J. curcas showed high correlation between the production of the leaves and the length of the leaves (R = 0.861; P ≤ 0.001). These parameters were correlated with the Biplot (F1 and F2) to 53.24%. It was opposed to the positives and imperfect correlation between the height and the recover parameters (R = 0.486; P ≤ 0.05). The treatments 100 g of NPK per plant and 2 kg of cow dung per plant induced strongly the development and yield of J. curcas and V. unguiculata adapted to marginal soils.

Effects of environmental factors and soil properties on soil organic carbon stock in a natural dry tropical area of Cameroon

“…This SOC content is higher than that found by Batjes (2008) on sandy marine sediments on freely drained Arenosols in the lower Congo. This difference can be attributed not only to parent materials but also to drainage conditions (freely drained sediments) that favour the leaching of SOM and SOC (Batjes, 2008;Torn et al, 2009). The T-SOC value of 41.21 ± 2.89 g kg −1 in Leptosols here is lower than that obtained in Umbric Leptosols of the temperate zone (52.40 ± 7.05 g kg −1 ) but higher than the value obtained in Mollic Leptosols under similar climatic conditions in Southern Spain (38.95 ± 6.41 g kg −1 ) studied by Parras-Alcantara et al (2015), meaning that climate is not responsible for the variation of SOC contents in Spanish Leptosols.…”

“…The vegetation cover and/or the type of vegetation influences the amount of SOC stored in soils (Torn et al, 2009;Reyna-Bowen et al, 2020). The site of Laf most southerly located had the highest T-SOCS, while the site of Mozogo most northerly located had the lowest T-SOCS.…”

“…and therefore likely to have a high T-SOCS, shows a lower T-SOCS than that obtained in Vertisols at Laf. The influence of the vegetation might occur through deep root distribution and the chemical nature of litter (Bird and Torn, 2006;Zhang et al, 2008;Torn et al, 2009;Reyna-Bowen et al, 2020). Generally, decomposition of SOM involves multiple microbial processes catalysed by various enzymes (Zhang et al, 2020).…”

“…In Cameroon, the few existing studies were mainly achieved in the humid tropical part of the country (Amougou et al, 2016;Tsozué et al, 2019). Studies on the Sudano-Sahelian part of the country are scare, and the few that exist are mainly available in unpublished reports or are more concerned with C stocks in plant biomass (Ibrahim and Habib, 2008;Tchobsala et al, 2014Tchobsala et al, , 2016. Moreover, many studies have ignored deeper SOC in the world (Ruiz Sinoda et al, 2012;Tornquist et al, 2009;Nyameasem et al, 2020;Schaefer et al, 2020;Mabicka et al, 2021).…”

Effects of environmental factors and soil properties on soil organic carbon stock in a natural dry tropical area of Cameroon

“…In Cameroon, the few existing works were mainly achieved in the humid tropical part of the country (Amougou et al, 2016;Tsozué et al, 2019). Studies on the Sudano-Sahelian part of the country are scare and the few existing ones are mainly available in reports or are more concerned with C stocks in plant biomass (Ibrahim and Habib 2008;Tchobsala et al, 2014Tchobsala et al, , 2016. Moreover, many studies have ignored deeper SOC in the world (Ruiz Sinoda et al, 2012;Tornquist et al, 2009).…”