Experimental Agriculture

Table of Contents - 1998 - Volume 34, Issue 04  


EFFECTS OF WINDBREAK SPECIES AND MULCHING ON WIND EROSION AND MILLET YIELD IN THE SAHEL

K.  MICHELS a1p1, J. P. A.  LAMERS a2 and A.  BUERKERT a3
a1 ICRISAT Sahelian Center, BP 12404, Niamey, Niger
a2 Institute of Agricultural Economics and Social Sciences in the Tropics and Subtropics (490)
a3 Institute of Plant Nutrition (330), University of Hohenheim, 70593 Stuttgart, Germany

Abstract

In an on-station agroforestry experiment conducted in south-west Niger, the effects of seven windbreak species and of a soil mulch made from crop residue on wind erosion and pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) production were monitored. Within a distance of 20 m, strips of the perennial grass, Andropogon gayanus, reduced total annual soil flux by 6–55% and hedges of Bauhinia rufescens 2 m in height reduced soil flux by 47–77% compared with unsheltered control plots. No significant overall windbreak effect on millet stover and grain yields was found. In contrast, erosion reduction and yield increases due to mulch application were highly significant. Soil mulch is a promising alternative to complex windbreak–millet cropping systems in regions where direct economic benefits for farmers are not ensured by windbreaks.

(Accepted May 4 1998)


Correspondence:
p1 Present address: Institute of Plant Production and Agroecology in the Tropics and Subtropics (380), University of Hohenheim, 70593 Stuttgart, Germany. Email: michels@uni-hohenheim.de