Yield stability of four staple crops of sub-Saharan Africa: analysis of long-term trials
Meeting the food demand of the growing population of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) requires improvement of agronomic interventions including cropping systems and management practices that can lead to higher and more stable crop production. We reviewed studies on long-term experiments (LTEs) in SSA to ass...
| Autores principales: | , , , , |
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| Formato: | Journal Article |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
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Springer
2025
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/172921 |
| _version_ | 1855522524726558720 |
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| author | Awio, Thomas Senthilkumar, Kalimuthu Ibrahim, Ali Corbeels, Marc Saito, Kazuki |
| author_browse | Awio, Thomas Corbeels, Marc Ibrahim, Ali Saito, Kazuki Senthilkumar, Kalimuthu |
| author_facet | Awio, Thomas Senthilkumar, Kalimuthu Ibrahim, Ali Corbeels, Marc Saito, Kazuki |
| author_sort | Awio, Thomas |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Meeting the food demand of the growing population of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) requires improvement of agronomic interventions including cropping systems and management practices that can lead to higher and more stable crop production. We reviewed studies on long-term experiments (LTEs) in SSA to assess yield and yield stability of maize, rice, sorghum, and pearl millet, and identify agronomic interventions having higher and more stable crop productivity. We used 558 observations from 58 LTEs across 13 SSA countries. Across crops, mineral fertiliser application significantly (p ≤ 0.04) increased yield and sustainable yield index (SYI) by 48–185% and 49–257%, respectively. Organic inputs significantly (p ≤ 0.04) increased yield of rainfed rice and maize by 21 and 79%, respectively, and SYI of pearl millet and maize by 133 and 125%, respectively. Green manure application (in-situ) considerably enhanced yield and SYI of maize by 207 and 291%, respectively, compared with no application. Combined application of mineral fertiliser and organic input substantially increased yield and SYI of maize by 23–36 and 31–43%, respectively. Conservation tillage practices and intercropping did not increase yield and yield stability. Across crops, irrespective of the agronomic interventions, SYI increased with higher yields, whereas for coefficient of variation only a significant negative relationship was observed for rice. The results of this study suggest that achieving both high yields and high yield stability are not conflicting goals. However, apart from mineral fertiliser, the impact of other agronomic interventions is crop specific. Given the limited availability of data from the crops other than maize, there is a need to establish a new generation of LTEs focusing on these other crops in diverse environments in SSA. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace172921 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | Springer |
| publisherStr | Springer |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1729212025-11-13T10:38:37Z Yield stability of four staple crops of sub-Saharan Africa: analysis of long-term trials Awio, Thomas Senthilkumar, Kalimuthu Ibrahim, Ali Corbeels, Marc Saito, Kazuki food security cropping systems crop management agronomic practices long-term experiments yield stability organic fertilizers intercropping conservation tillage coefficient of variation soil amendments Meeting the food demand of the growing population of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) requires improvement of agronomic interventions including cropping systems and management practices that can lead to higher and more stable crop production. We reviewed studies on long-term experiments (LTEs) in SSA to assess yield and yield stability of maize, rice, sorghum, and pearl millet, and identify agronomic interventions having higher and more stable crop productivity. We used 558 observations from 58 LTEs across 13 SSA countries. Across crops, mineral fertiliser application significantly (p ≤ 0.04) increased yield and sustainable yield index (SYI) by 48–185% and 49–257%, respectively. Organic inputs significantly (p ≤ 0.04) increased yield of rainfed rice and maize by 21 and 79%, respectively, and SYI of pearl millet and maize by 133 and 125%, respectively. Green manure application (in-situ) considerably enhanced yield and SYI of maize by 207 and 291%, respectively, compared with no application. Combined application of mineral fertiliser and organic input substantially increased yield and SYI of maize by 23–36 and 31–43%, respectively. Conservation tillage practices and intercropping did not increase yield and yield stability. Across crops, irrespective of the agronomic interventions, SYI increased with higher yields, whereas for coefficient of variation only a significant negative relationship was observed for rice. The results of this study suggest that achieving both high yields and high yield stability are not conflicting goals. However, apart from mineral fertiliser, the impact of other agronomic interventions is crop specific. Given the limited availability of data from the crops other than maize, there is a need to establish a new generation of LTEs focusing on these other crops in diverse environments in SSA. 2025-06 2025-02-11T01:14:38Z 2025-02-11T01:14:38Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/172921 en Limited Access Springer Awio, Thomas, Kalimuthu Senthilkumar, Ali Ibrahim, Marc Corbeels, and Kazuki Saito (2025). Yield stability of four staple crops of sub-Saharan Africa: analysis of long-term trials. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems. |
| spellingShingle | food security cropping systems crop management agronomic practices long-term experiments yield stability organic fertilizers intercropping conservation tillage coefficient of variation soil amendments Awio, Thomas Senthilkumar, Kalimuthu Ibrahim, Ali Corbeels, Marc Saito, Kazuki Yield stability of four staple crops of sub-Saharan Africa: analysis of long-term trials |
| title | Yield stability of four staple crops of sub-Saharan Africa: analysis of long-term trials |
| title_full | Yield stability of four staple crops of sub-Saharan Africa: analysis of long-term trials |
| title_fullStr | Yield stability of four staple crops of sub-Saharan Africa: analysis of long-term trials |
| title_full_unstemmed | Yield stability of four staple crops of sub-Saharan Africa: analysis of long-term trials |
| title_short | Yield stability of four staple crops of sub-Saharan Africa: analysis of long-term trials |
| title_sort | yield stability of four staple crops of sub saharan africa analysis of long term trials |
| topic | food security cropping systems crop management agronomic practices long-term experiments yield stability organic fertilizers intercropping conservation tillage coefficient of variation soil amendments |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/172921 |
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