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Shea (Vitellaria paradoxa) tree and soil parent material effects on soil properties and intercropped sorghum grain-Zn in southern Mali, West Africa

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Abstract

Aims

Agroforestry parklands are an important agricultural practice in southern Mali where trees such as the Shea (Vitellaria paradoxa C.F. Gaertn) improve soil fertility and crop growth. However, it is not known whether Shea trees can ameliorate Zn-deficient soils or improve Zn uptake from soils of high-Zn, mafic origin.

Methods

A total of 22 Shea trees preserved in traditional parklands with sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) were selected from two soil parent material (PM) types (mafic and non-mafic). Sorghum grain and soil samples were taken along a transect from the bole to 12 m beyond the canopy and analyzed for soil and grain parameters including diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA)-extractable soil-Zn and grain-Zn concentration.

Results

Zn-deficient soils were observed with most occurring at non-mafic PM. Mean DTPA-extractable Zn concentrations ranged from 0.55-2.98 μg g−1 in mafic soils and 0.34-1.02 μg g−1 in non-mafic soils. PM influenced soil available-Zn, but not grain-Zn concentration. Both soil available-Zn and grain-Zn concentrations decreased away from trees with grain-Zn concentration not consistently decreasing across all soils.

Conclusions

These results suggest that Shea trees grown in soils derived from mafic PM can improve soil-Zn availability, but that other growth factors are more important in determining grain-Zn content.

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Acknowledgments

C. Verbree received a departmental assistantship from the Dept. of Soil and Crop Sciences, Texas A&M University to carry out this study. Support for travel and chemical analysis was provided to Dr. William Payne from the McKnight Foundation and the Norman Borlaug Institute of International Agriculture of Texas A&M University. We thank Dr. Fred Weltzien-Rattunde, Dr. Eva Weltzien, and Ibrahima Sissoko of the International Crop Research Institution for the Semi-Arid Tropics in Samanko, Mali for their cooperation and support for field research. We also thank Moussa Sacko for his translation services, Lauren Pitt of Texas A&M University for help with assigning soil color, and Dr. David Verbree of the University of Tennessee for assistance in statistical analysis and figure generation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA

    Cheryl L. Verbree, Jacqueline A. Aitkenhead-Peterson, Richard H. Loeppert & Joseph M. Awika

  2. College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, 89557, USA

    William A. Payne

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  1. Cheryl L. Verbree
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  2. Jacqueline A. Aitkenhead-Peterson
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Correspondence to Cheryl L. Verbree.

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Verbree, C.L., Aitkenhead-Peterson, J.A., Loeppert, R.H. et al. Shea (Vitellaria paradoxa) tree and soil parent material effects on soil properties and intercropped sorghum grain-Zn in southern Mali, West Africa. Plant Soil 386, 21–33 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-014-2244-0

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