Maize (Zea mays) yield and its relationship to soil properties under integrated fertility, mulch and tillage management in urban agriculture
A Shumba, N Dunjana, B. Nyamasoka, P. Nyamugafata, Simon Madyiwa, J. Nyamangara
South African Journal of Plant and Soil
Urban Farm DB summary
In Harare, Zimbabwe, an experiment on sandy and red clay soils tested combinations of cattle manure plus mineral nitrogen fertilizer, 0 or 5 t/ha of mulch, and reduced (RT) or conventional (CT) tillage, assessing effects on soil organic carbon (SOC), aggregate stability, bulk density, steady-state infiltration rate (SSIR) and maize yield over two cropping seasons. Reduced tillage improved SOC and aggregate stability by at least 6% over conventional tillage in the 0-5 cm depth (p < 0.01); cattle manure plus mineral fertilizer increased SOC and aggregate stability by at least 13% and SSIR by at least 17% over mineral fertilizer alone, while mulching improved SSIR by at least 8% and reduced tillage improved it by 27% in both soils. Maize yields increased significantly under mineral fertilizer in both soils (at least 3.7-fold, p < 0.05), and principal component analysis showed yield could be predicted from bulk density in sandy soil and from aggregate stability and SSIR in red clay soil.