The effect of minimum tillage and animal manure on maize yields and soil organic carbon in sub‐Saharan Africa: A meta‐analysis

Githongo, Miriam; Kiboi, Milka N.; Ngetich, Felix K.; Musafiri, Collins M.; Muriuki, Anne; Fließbach, Andreas

doi:10.1016/j.envc.2021.100340

Cited by 15 publications

(9 citation statements)

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“…Most CA techniques adopted in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are the combined treatments of minimum tillage and residue retention (Thierfelder et al, 2013;Cheesman et al, 2016). At the regional level, our modelled small SOC increase of 2 % in no tillage (F NT ) and 3 % in residue retention (F RR ) agree with a recent meta-analysis of Githongo et al (2021), in which converting from a conventional tillage to a no-till system in SSA on average showed only slight SOC increase in a maize cropping system. This reported insignificant impact contrasts with an earlier synthesis conducted by Powlson et al (2016), who reported that the combination of minimum tillage and residue retention in SSA would result in a net SOC increase of 0.45 t C ha −1 yr −1 after 3 to 9 years of implementation, ∼ 24 % higher than the control management (i.e., tillage and residue removal).…”

Section: Soil Carbon Stockssupporting

confidence: 89%

Assessing the impacts of agricultural managements on soil carbon stocks, nitrogen loss, and crop production – a modelling study in eastern Africa

Rabin

Anthoni

et al. 2022

Biogeosciences

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Abstract. Improved agricultural management plays a vital role in protecting soils from degradation in eastern Africa. Changing practices such as reducing tillage, fertilizer use, or cover crops are expected to enhance soil organic carbon (SOC) storage, with climate change mitigation co-benefits, while increasing crop production. However, the quantification of cropland management effects on agricultural ecosystems remains inadequate in this region. Here, we explored seven management practices and their potential effects on soil carbon (C) pools, nitrogen (N) losses, and crop yields under different climate scenarios, using the dynamic vegetation model LPJ-GUESS. The model performance is evaluated against observations from two long-term maize field trials in western Kenya and reported estimates from published sources. LPJ-GUESS generally produces soil C stocks and maize productivity comparable with measurements and mostly captures the SOC decline under some management practices that is observed in the field experiments. We found that for large parts of Kenya and Ethiopia, an integrated conservation agriculture practice (no-tillage, residue and manure application, and cover crops) increases SOC levels in the long term (+11 % on average), accompanied by increased crop yields (+22 %) in comparison to the conventional management. Planting nitrogen-fixing cover crops in our simulations is also identified as a promising individual practice in eastern Africa to increase soil C storage (+4 %) and crop production (+18 %), with low environmental cost of N losses (+24 %). These management impacts are also sustained in simulations of three future climate pathways. This study highlights the possibilities of conservation agriculture when targeting long-term environmental sustainability and food security in crop ecosystems, particularly for those with poor soil conditions in tropical climates.

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Section: Soil Carbon Stockssupporting

confidence: 89%

Assessing the impacts of agricultural managements on soil carbon stocks, nitrogen loss, and crop production – a modelling study in eastern Africa

Rabin

Anthoni

et al. 2022

Biogeosciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Most CA techniques adopted in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are the combined treatments of minimum tillage and residue retention (Thierfelder et al, 2013;Cheesman et al, 2016). At the regional level, our modelled small SOC increase of 2% in no-tillage (FNT) and 3% in residue retention (FRR) agree with a recent meta-analysis of Githongo et al (2021), in which converting from a conventional tillage to a no-till system in SSA on average showed only slight SOC increase in a maize cropping system. This reported insignificant impact contrasts with an earlier synthesis conducted by Powlson et al (2016), who reported that the combination of minimum tillage and residue retention in SSA would result in a net SOC increase of 0.45 t C ha -1 yr -1 after three to nine years of implementation, ~24%…”

Section: Soil Carbon Stockssupporting

confidence: 87%

Assessing the impacts of agricultural managements on soil carbon stocks, nitrogen loss and crop production — a modelling study in Eastern Africa

Rabin

Anthoni

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Abstract. Improved agricultural management plays a vital role in protecting soils from degradation in Eastern Africa. Changing practices such as reducing tillage, fertilizer use or cover crops are expected to enhance soil organic carbon (SOC) storage, with climate change mitigation co-benefits, while increasing crop production. However, the quantification of cropland managements’ effects on agricultural ecosystems remains inadequate in this region. Here, we explored seven management practices and their potential effects on soil carbon (C) pools, nitrogen (N) losses, and crop yields under different climate scenarios, using the dynamic vegetation model LPJ-GUESS. The model performance is evaluated against observations from two long-term maize field trials in western Kenya and reported estimates from published sources. LPJ-GUESS generally produces soil C stocks and maize productivity comparable with measurements, and mostly captures the SOC decline under some management practices that is observed in the field experiments. We found that for large parts of Kenya and Ethiopia, an integrated conservation agriculture practice (no-tillage, residue and manure application, and cover crops) increases SOC levels in the long term (+11 % on average), accompanied by increased crop yields (+22 %) in comparison to the standard management. Planting nitrogen-fixing cover crops in our simulations is also identified as a promising individual practice in Eastern Africa to increase soil C storage (+4 %) and crop production (+18 %), with low environmental cost of N losses (+24 %). These management impacts are also sustained in simulations of three future climate pathways. This study highlights the possibilities of conservation agriculture when targeting long-term environmental sustainability and food security in crop ecosystems, particularly for those with poor soil conditions in tropical climates.

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“…Studies have established the positive impact of DTMVs as climate‐smart practices for farming households when adopted independently (Amondo & Simtowe, 2019; Wossen, Abdoulaye, Alene, Feleke, Ricker‐Gilbert, et al., 2017). The use of manure has also been found to directly improve maize yield (Githongo et al., 2021). This study evaluates whether the impact is greater when DTMVs and manure application are adopted jointly compared to adopting them in isolation.…”

Section: Conceptual Framework and Estimation Strategymentioning

confidence: 99%

Does simultaneous adoption of drought‐tolerant maize varieties and organic fertiliser affect productivity and welfare outcomes? Evidence from rural Nigeria

Oyetunde‐Usman,

Shee,

Abdoulaye

2024

Aus J Agri & Res Econ

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The promotion of improved maize varieties and chemical fertilisers underscores many policy approaches addressing multiple production risks such as poor soil fertility and drought. However, the unsustainable use of chemical fertilisers has important implications for soil degradation. The synergies between improved maize varieties and sustainable land use management practices such as the use of organic fertilisers (e.g., manure) are poorly documented, despite the role of manure in enhancing soil organic matter. Employing nationally representative household survey data in Nigeria, this study utilises multivalued inverse probability weighted regression adjustment, entropy balancing and a multinomial endogenous switching regression model to determine the effects of the adoption of drought‐tolerant maize varieties (DTMVs) and organic fertiliser on farm households' productivity, per capita total expenditure and per capita food expenditure. Controlling for farm households' observables and unobservables, the estimation results of the average treatment effects show that the highest pay‐off on productivity and welfare outcomes is achieved when DTMVs and manure are jointly adopted. Also, wealth indicators, access to loans and access to extension services significantly influenced individual and combinatory packages of DTMVs and manure application adoption. This study underlines the significance of the joint adoption of DTMVs and manure application on rural farmers' productivity and welfare and a substantial contribution to achieving sustainable agricultural practices.

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The effect of minimum tillage and animal manure on maize yields and soil organic carbon in sub‐Saharan Africa: A meta‐analysis

Cited by 15 publications

References 100 publications

Assessing the impacts of agricultural managements on soil carbon stocks, nitrogen loss, and crop production – a modelling study in eastern Africa

Assessing the impacts of agricultural managements on soil carbon stocks, nitrogen loss, and crop production – a modelling study in eastern Africa

Assessing the impacts of agricultural managements on soil carbon stocks, nitrogen loss and crop production — a modelling study in Eastern Africa

Does simultaneous adoption of drought‐tolerant maize varieties and organic fertiliser affect productivity and welfare outcomes? Evidence from rural Nigeria

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