Abstract
Theee trials to evaluat the potential of alley cropping in maize production on the low fertility, acidic soils in Northern Zambia are described. Leucaena leucocephala, Gliricidia sepium, Sesbania sesban, Albizia falcataria, Fleminga congesta, and Cassia spectabilis, were grown in alley crops with hybrid maize and soybean. All trials received recommended rates of P and K fertiliser; N fertiliser was applied at three rates as a subplot treatment. One trial received lime before establishment.
Only in the limed trial was there a significant improvement in maize yields through alley cropping; when no N fertiliser was applied, incorporation of Leucaena leucocephala prunings resulted in an increase of up to 95% in yields, with a smaller improvement being produced by Flemingia congesta. There was a significant correlation between the quantity of prunings biomass applied and the proportional increase in maize yields over the control treatment. It is suggested that the lack of effect of most of the tree species on crop yields was due to low biomass production.
An economic analysis showed that alley cropping with limed Leucaena was only profitable when fertiliser costs were high in relation to maize prices. However, lime is both expensive and difficult to obtain and transport for most small scale farmers in the region, and is therefore not a practical recommendation. It is suggested that future alley cropping research should focus on screening a wider range of tree species, including other species of Leucaena, for acid tolerance and higher biomass production.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
AFRENA (1989) In: Kwesiga F and Kamau IN, eds, Agroforestry Potential in the Unimodal Upland Plateau of Zambia. Agroforestry Research Network for Africa (AFRENA), Report No. 7. ICRAF, Nairobi
Bolt R and Holdsworth I (1987) Farming systems economy and agricultural commercialisation in the South Eastern Plateau of Northern Province, Zambia. ARPT Economic Studies No. 1, Misamfu Regional Research Station, Kasama, Zambia
Budelman A (1988) Leaf dry matter productivity of three selected perennial leguminous species in humid tropical Ivory Coast. Agroforestry Systems 7: 47–62
Budelman A (1989) The performance of selected leaf mulches in temperature reduction and moisture conservation in the upper soil stratum. Agroforestry Systems 8: 53–66
Chidumayo EN (1987) A shifting cultivation land use system under population pressure in Zambia. Agroforestry Systems 5: 15–25
Duguma B, Kang BT, Okali DDU (1988) Effect of pruning intensities of three woody leguminous species grown in alley cropping with maize and cowpea on an alfisol. Agroforestry Systems 6: 19–35
Greenland DJ (1975) Bringing the Green Revolution to the shifting cultivator. Science 190: 841–844
Holden ST and Joseph LO (1991) Farmer participatory research and agroforestry development — a case study from Northern Zambia. Agricultural Systems 36: 173–189
Kang BT, Grimme H, Lawson TL (1985) Alley cropping sequentially cropped maize and cowpea with Leucaena on a sandy soil in southern Nigeria. Plant and Soil 85: 267–277
Kang BT and W GG (1987) The development of alley cropping as a promising agroforestry technology. In: Steppler HA and Nair PKR, eds, Agroforestry — A Decade of Development, pp 227–243, ICRAF
Kessler JJ and Breman H (1991) The potential of agroforestry to increase primary production in the Sahelian and Sudanian zones of West Africa. Agroforestry Systems 13: 41–62
Lal R (1989a) Agroforestry systems and soil surface management of a tropical alfisol. I. Soil moisture and crop yields. Agroforestry Systems 8: 7–32
Lal R (1989b) Agroforestry systems and soil surface management of a tropical alfisol. III. Changes in soil chemical properties. Agroforestry Systems 8: 113–132
LIMA (1991) Lima crop recommendations, Northern Province: small scale farmer recommendations. (ed. Uprichard T). Ministry of Agriculture, Zambia
Mansfield JE, Bennet JG, King RB, Lang DM and Lawton RM (1975) Land resources of Northern and Luapula Provinces, Zambia. In: Land Resource Study 19, Land Resources Division, Ministry of Overseas Development, England
Matthews RB, Holden ST, Volk J and Lungu S (1992) The potential of alley cropping in improvement of cultivation systems in the high rainfall areas of Zambia. I. Chitemene and fundikila. Agroforestry Systems (this issue)
Ngambeki DS (1985) Economic evaluation of alley cropping Leucaena with maize-maize and maize-cowpea in southern Nigeria. Agricultural Systems 17: 243–358
O'Sullivan TE (1985) Farming systems and soil management: the Philippines/Australian Development Assistance Program experience. In: Crasswell ET, Remenyi JV and Nallana LG, eds, Soil Erosion Management. ACIAR Proc Series 6: 77–81
Sanchez PA (1987) Soil productivity and sustainability in agroforestry systems. In: Steppler HA and Nair PKR, eds, Agroforestry — A Decade of Development, pp 205–223, ICRAF
Sanchez PA and Benites JR (1987) Low input cropping for acid soils of the humid tropics. Science 238: 1521–1527
Sanginga N, Mulongoy K, Ayanaba A (1989) Nitrogen fixation of field-inoculated Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit estimated by the 15N and the difference methods. Plant and Soil 117: 269–274
Stromgaard P (1984) Prospects of improved farming systems in a shifting cultivation area in Zambia. Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture 23: 38–50
Stromgaard P (1985) A subsistence society under pressure: the Bemba of Northern Zambia. Africa 55: 39–59
Szott LT (1987) Improving the productivity of shifting cultivation in the Amazon Basin of Peru through the use of leguminous vegetation. PhD dissertation, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, 168 pp
Verlière G (1966) Valeur fertilisante de deux plantes utiliseés dans les essais de paillage du Caféier: Tithonia diversifolia et Flemingia congesta. Café Cacao Thé 3: 228–236
Watson HR and Lagnihon A (1985) Sloping agricultural land technology (SALT) as developed by the Mindanao Baptist Rural Life Centre. In: Protection and Amelioration Roles of Agroforestry. Workshop Proc. 4–11 September, 1985. Institute of Forest Conservation, 4PLB, Los Banos, Philippines
Yamoah CF, Agboola AA, Mulongoy K (1986a) Decomposition, nitrogen release and weed control by prunings of selected alley cropping shrubs. Agroforestry Systems 4: 239–246
Yamoah CF, Agboola AA and Wilson GF (1986b)Nutrient contribution and maize performance in alley cropping systems. Agroforestry Systems 4: 247–254
Yamoah CF, Agboola AA, Wilson GF and Mulongoy K (1986c) Soil properties as affected by the use of leguminous shrubs for alley cropping with maize. Agriculture Ecosystems and Environment 18: 167–77
Yamoah CF and Burleigh JR (1990) Alley cropping Sesbania sesban (L) Merill with food crops in the highland region of Rwanda. Agroforestry Systems 10: 169–181
Young A (1989) Agroforestry for Soil Conservation. Science and Practice of Agroforestry Series No. 4. ICRAF/CAB International
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Matthews, R.B., Lungu, S., Volk, J. et al. The potential of alley cropping im improvement of cultivation systems in the high rainfall areas of Zambia II. Maize production. Agroforest Syst 17, 241–261 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00054150
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00054150