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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 March 2001

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

Type
Research Article
Information
Experimental Agriculture , Volume 34 , Issue 4 , October 1998 , pp. 449 - 464
Copyright
© 1998 Cambridge University Press

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