Monitoring of Soil Water Content in Maize Rotated with Pigeonpea Fallows in South Africa

Water

PaxieW. Chirwa¹  Misheck Musokwa²  ParamuL. Mafongoya² 

[1] Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Pretoria 0002, South Africa;School of Agricultural, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal,Bag X01, Pietermaritzburg 3209, South Africa;

关键词: agroforestry;    drought;    maize;    pigeonpea;    smallholder farmers;    watermark sensors;   

DOI  :  10.3390/w12102761

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Maize production under smallholder systems in South Africa (RSA) depends on rainfall. Incidences of dry spells throughout the growing season have affected maize yields negatively. The study examined water distribution and water use efficiency (WUE) of maize rotated with two-year pigeonpea fallows as compared to continuous maize without fertilizer. A randomized complete block design, replicated three times, was used with four treatments, which included continuous unfertilized maize, natural fallow-maize, pigeonpea + grass-pigeonpea-maize, and two-year pigeonpea fallow-maize. Soil water mark sensors were installed 0.2; 0.5; and 1.2 m on each plot to monitor soil water tension (kPa). Soil samples were analyzed using pressure plates to determine water retention curves which were used to convert soil water tension to volumetric water content. Maize rotated with two-year pigeonpea fallows had higher dry matter yield (11,661 kg ha⁻¹) and WUE (20.78 kg mm⁻¹) than continuous maize (5314 kg ha⁻¹ and 9.48 kg mm⁻¹). In this era of water scarcity and drought incidences caused by climate change, maize rotated with pigeonpea fallows is recommended among smallholder farmers in RSA because of its higher WUE, hence food security will be guaranteed.

【 授权许可】

Unknown