Effects of management practices on legume productivity in smallholder farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa

cg.authorship.typesCGIAR and advanced research instituteen
cg.contributor.affiliationSwedish University of Agricultural Sciencesen
cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Livestock Research Instituteen
cg.contributor.affiliationScotland's Rural Collegeen
cg.contributor.affiliationUniversity of Edinburghen
cg.contributor.affiliationWorld Agroforestry Centreen
cg.contributor.crpGrain Legumes and Dryland Cereals
cg.contributor.crpLivestock
cg.contributor.donorDeutscher Akademischer Austauschdiensten
cg.coverage.regionAfrica
cg.coverage.regionSub-Saharan Africa
cg.creator.identifierTarirai Muoni: 0000-0002-0859-7521
cg.creator.identifierAlan Duncan: 0000-0002-3954-3067
cg.howPublishedFormally Publisheden
cg.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1002/fes3.366en
cg.isijournalISI Journalen
cg.issn2048-3694en
cg.issue2en
cg.journalFood and Energy Securityen
cg.reviewStatusPeer Reviewen
cg.subject.ilriAGRICULTUREen
cg.subject.ilriANIMAL FEEDINGen
cg.subject.ilriCROP-LIVESTOCKen
cg.subject.ilriFEEDSen
cg.subject.ilriFODDERen
cg.subject.ilriFORAGESen
cg.subject.ilriLEGUMESen
cg.volume11en
dc.contributor.authorMuoni, Tariraien
dc.contributor.authorJonsson, M.en
dc.contributor.authorDuncan, Alan J.en
dc.contributor.authorWatson, Christine A.en
dc.contributor.authorBergkvist, Goranen
dc.contributor.authorBarnes, Andrew P.en
dc.contributor.authorÖborn, Ingriden
dc.date.accessioned2022-12-21T08:48:45Zen
dc.date.available2022-12-21T08:48:45Zen
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/126156
dc.titleEffects of management practices on legume productivity in smallholder farming systems in sub-Saharan Africaen
dcterms.abstractLegumes play a key role in food and nutrition security, providing livestock feed and contributing to soil fertility, in mixed smallholder farms in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA). The environmental conditions under which smallholder farming is practiced are highly heterogeneous with large differences in management practices among farms resulting in variable legume productivity. A meta‐analysis based on 128 publications was conducted to quantify the effects of intercropping, inoculation with rhizobia, minimum tillage and phosphorus application on legume grain and biomass yield and the amount of biological nitrogen fixation in a range of SSA contexts. To further explain the heterogeneity in the results, legume species, type of inoculant, P‐application rate, altitude, rainfall, soil characteristics and non‐legume companion crops were used as moderators. Intercropping as compared to sole cropping reduced legume biomass and grain yields to varying extents, although the total land equivalent ratio for the sum of the intercrops was higher than 1 (1.2–1.9) in all cases. Expressed as the relative land equivalent ratio (rLER) intercropping affected pigeonpea grain yield the least (rLER 0.9) and faba bean the most (rLER 0.3). The non‐legume companion crops explained some of the heterogeneity where maize and sorghum significantly reduced the legume yields. Inoculation and P application increased legume grain and biomass yield and moderators such as legume species, type of inoculant, soil organic carbon and soil pH further explained the different effects of the management practices on legume productivity. Minimum tillage had no effect on legume productivity, although less data were available than for the other practices. We conclude that intercropping with legumes improves overall productivity and that application of P fertilizer and inoculants increase legume grain and biomass yield. The effect varies with crop species, soil type and other environmental conditions, and this needs to be factored into tailored recommendations supporting decision making in smallholder farming.en
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Access
dcterms.audienceScientistsen
dcterms.available2022-01-31
dcterms.bibliographicCitationMuoni, T., Jonsson, M., Duncan, A.J., Watson, C.A., Bergkvist, G., Barnes, A.P. and Öborn, I. 2022. Effects of management practices on legume productivity in smallholder farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa. Food and Energy Security 11(2):e366en
dcterms.issued2022-05
dcterms.languageen
dcterms.licenseCC-BY-4.0
dcterms.publisherWileyen
dcterms.subjectlegumesen
dcterms.subjectanimal feedingen
dcterms.subjectfarming systemsen
dcterms.subjectcropping systemsen
dcterms.subjectfood scienceen
dcterms.subjectforestryen
dcterms.typeJournal Article

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