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| Titel |
More Yield with Less Water: Increasing Water Use Efficiency by Capitalizing on the Adaptation of Native Shrubs in the Sudano-Sahel |
| VerfasserIn |
Nathaniel Bogie, Roger Bayala, Ibrahima Diedhiou, Richard Dick, Teamrat Ghezzehei |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2016
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
en
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 18 (2016) |
| Datensatznummer |
250122187
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| Publikation (Nr.) |
 EGU/EGU2016-1152.pdf |
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| Zusammenfassung |
| A changing climate along with human and animal population pressure can have a devastating
effect on crop yields and food security in the Sudano-Sahel. Agricultural solutions to address
soil degradation and crop water stress are needed to combat this increasingly difficult
situation. Significant differences in crop success have been observed in peanut and millet
grown in association with two native evergreen shrubs Piliostigma reticulatum, and Guiera
senegalensis at the sites of Nioro du Rip and Keur Matar, respectively. We investigate
how farmers can increase crop productivity by capitalizing on the evolutionary
adaptation of native shrubs to the harsh Sudano-Sahelian environment as well as the
physical mechanisms at work in the system that can lead to more robust yields.
Research plots at Keur Matar Arame with no fertilizer added were monitored in 2013
using two soil moisture sensor networks at depths of 10, 20, 40, 60, 100, 200, and
300cm. Cropping season water use total calculated based on beginning and end of
season soil moisture and seasonal precipitation data revealed that crop-only plot
used 411±32 mm of water, and the crop and shrub plot used 439±42 mm of water.
Taking into account the quantity of crop biomass produced and neglecting the shrub
biomass produced, the crop and shrub plot had a water use efficiency of 1.60 kg
ha−1 mm−1 and the crop only plot had 0.269 kg ha−1 mm−1. Water status was
measured three times throughout the season on millet leaves and revealed no significant
trends. Handheld NDVI readings revealed significantly higher NDVI values in crop
and shrub plots at all measurement dates. These findings build on work that was
completed in 2004 at the site, but further increases in crop yields have been shown.
Increasing water use efficiency by over 500% can be a great advantage in years of
limited water availability such as 2013. Using even the limited resources that farmers
possess, this agroforestry technique can be expanded over wide swaths of the Sahel. |
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