Maize water productivity and its relationship to soil properties under integrated cattle manure and mineral-nitrogen fertilizer in a smallholder cropping system

Crop water productivity is often regarded as indicating the water use efficiency of crops, an important aspect, particularly under erratic rainfall conditions. This study investigated the effects of cattle manure and mineral‐N fertilizer application on maize (Zea mays L.) water productivity (MWP) on...

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Autores principales: Dunjana, Nothando, Nyamugafata, Philip, Nyamangara, Justice, Mango, Nelson, Gwenzi, Willis
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Wiley 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/69148
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author Dunjana, Nothando
Nyamugafata, Philip
Nyamangara, Justice
Mango, Nelson
Gwenzi, Willis
author_browse Dunjana, Nothando
Gwenzi, Willis
Mango, Nelson
Nyamangara, Justice
Nyamugafata, Philip
author_facet Dunjana, Nothando
Nyamugafata, Philip
Nyamangara, Justice
Mango, Nelson
Gwenzi, Willis
author_sort Dunjana, Nothando
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Crop water productivity is often regarded as indicating the water use efficiency of crops, an important aspect, particularly under erratic rainfall conditions. This study investigated the effects of cattle manure and mineral‐N fertilizer application on maize (Zea mays L.) water productivity (MWP) on clay and sandy soils in a smallholder farming area of Zimbabwe. Four fields previously exhibiting heterogeneous fertility were managed under the following treatments: control (no amendment) and cattle manure (5, 15, and 25 Mg ha−1) + 100 kg ha−1 mineral‐N fertilizer for 7 yr. Thereafter, the effects of fertility treatment on MWP were expressed as actual maize grain yield produced per unit of seasonal transpiration modeled using AquaCrop. Furthermore, the relationship of MWP to physical soil properties was determined using principal component analysis. The MWP significantly (P < 0.05) improved with an increase in cattle manure plus mineral‐N fertilizer application over control on both soils ranging between 0.5 and 1.7 kg m−3 and between 0.24 and 1.1 kg m−3 on clay and sandy soils, respectively. The MWP was significantly correlated (P < 0.05) with the steady‐state infiltration rate on the clay soil and with soil organic C on the sandy soil. We concluded that cattle manure and mineral‐N fertilizer application is key to MWP improvement in rainfed smallholder cropping systems and is closely coupled with improvements in physical soil properties on clay soil than sandy soil. Therefore, the observations attest to the importance of site‐specific management that could contribute to efficient resource use in resource‐constrained farming areas.
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spelling CGSpace691482025-11-12T06:00:17Z Maize water productivity and its relationship to soil properties under integrated cattle manure and mineral-nitrogen fertilizer in a smallholder cropping system Dunjana, Nothando Nyamugafata, Philip Nyamangara, Justice Mango, Nelson Gwenzi, Willis maize statistical methods fertilizers cropping systems smallholders productivity soil fertility soil properties weather water maíz métodos estadísticos sistemas de cultivo productividad fertilidad del suelo propiedad del suelo tiempo meteorológico agua Crop water productivity is often regarded as indicating the water use efficiency of crops, an important aspect, particularly under erratic rainfall conditions. This study investigated the effects of cattle manure and mineral‐N fertilizer application on maize (Zea mays L.) water productivity (MWP) on clay and sandy soils in a smallholder farming area of Zimbabwe. Four fields previously exhibiting heterogeneous fertility were managed under the following treatments: control (no amendment) and cattle manure (5, 15, and 25 Mg ha−1) + 100 kg ha−1 mineral‐N fertilizer for 7 yr. Thereafter, the effects of fertility treatment on MWP were expressed as actual maize grain yield produced per unit of seasonal transpiration modeled using AquaCrop. Furthermore, the relationship of MWP to physical soil properties was determined using principal component analysis. The MWP significantly (P < 0.05) improved with an increase in cattle manure plus mineral‐N fertilizer application over control on both soils ranging between 0.5 and 1.7 kg m−3 and between 0.24 and 1.1 kg m−3 on clay and sandy soils, respectively. The MWP was significantly correlated (P < 0.05) with the steady‐state infiltration rate on the clay soil and with soil organic C on the sandy soil. We concluded that cattle manure and mineral‐N fertilizer application is key to MWP improvement in rainfed smallholder cropping systems and is closely coupled with improvements in physical soil properties on clay soil than sandy soil. Therefore, the observations attest to the importance of site‐specific management that could contribute to efficient resource use in resource‐constrained farming areas. 2015-11 2015-12-07T19:21:41Z 2015-12-07T19:21:41Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/69148 en Open Access application/pdf Wiley Dunjana, Nothando; Nyamugafata, Philip; Nyamangara, Justice; Mango, Nelson; Gwenzi, Willis. 2015. Maize water productivity and its relationship to soil properties under integrated cattle manure and mineral-nitrogen fertilizer in a smallholder cropping system. Agronomy Journal . The American Society of Agronomy, Inc., 107 (6): 2410-2418.
spellingShingle maize
statistical methods
fertilizers
cropping systems
smallholders
productivity
soil fertility
soil properties
weather
water
maíz
métodos estadísticos
sistemas de cultivo
productividad
fertilidad del suelo
propiedad del suelo
tiempo meteorológico
agua
Dunjana, Nothando
Nyamugafata, Philip
Nyamangara, Justice
Mango, Nelson
Gwenzi, Willis
Maize water productivity and its relationship to soil properties under integrated cattle manure and mineral-nitrogen fertilizer in a smallholder cropping system
title Maize water productivity and its relationship to soil properties under integrated cattle manure and mineral-nitrogen fertilizer in a smallholder cropping system
title_full Maize water productivity and its relationship to soil properties under integrated cattle manure and mineral-nitrogen fertilizer in a smallholder cropping system
title_fullStr Maize water productivity and its relationship to soil properties under integrated cattle manure and mineral-nitrogen fertilizer in a smallholder cropping system
title_full_unstemmed Maize water productivity and its relationship to soil properties under integrated cattle manure and mineral-nitrogen fertilizer in a smallholder cropping system
title_short Maize water productivity and its relationship to soil properties under integrated cattle manure and mineral-nitrogen fertilizer in a smallholder cropping system
title_sort maize water productivity and its relationship to soil properties under integrated cattle manure and mineral nitrogen fertilizer in a smallholder cropping system
topic maize
statistical methods
fertilizers
cropping systems
smallholders
productivity
soil fertility
soil properties
weather
water
maíz
métodos estadísticos
sistemas de cultivo
productividad
fertilidad del suelo
propiedad del suelo
tiempo meteorológico
agua
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/69148
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