ABSTRACT

Soil degradation is a major constraint to food security in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa. We examined the effect of indigenous (the traditional use of rotating fallow-based systems (toss) for livestock herding and soil enrichment) and non-indigenous farming patterns (the use of fertilizer input or no-inputs (non-toss)) on millet yields and soil characteristics in six villages in west-central Senegal. Soil samples were collected in 60 fields in six villages at 0–10 cm depth in 5 random locations in each field. Total yield was measured as head weight per m² and head weight per plant. The use of toss systems and hybrid farming (toss + fertilizer input) provided higher millet yields than conventional and low-input systems, and the effects of chemical fertilizer were modest in the small amounts applied by the farmers (7 kg/ha of 15–10-10 N-P-K). Soil carbon and pH and the number of trees were the best predictors of millet yield, but the overall predictive power was modest (R² < 0.34). This research sheds new light on the evolving role of local techniques and knowledge in the struggle to maintain agricultural productivity, as Sahelian communities confront soil fertility depletion and food insecurity.

摘要

土壤退化是撒哈拉以南非洲许多地区粮食安全的主要制约因素。我们研究了本地人（传统的基于旋转休耕系统（抛物）在牲畜放牧和土壤富集方面的使用）和非本地耕作方式（使用肥料输入或不投入（非抛物））对小米的影响塞内加尔中西部六个村庄的土壤产量和土壤特征。在六个村庄的60个田地中以0-10 cm的深度在每个田地中的5个随机位置收集土壤样品。以每m ^2的头重和每株植物的头重来测量总产量。使用抛抛系统和杂交农业（抛抛+肥料输入）比常规和低投入系统提供更高的谷子产量，而农民施用的少量肥料（7 kg / ha的15-10-10 N- P -K）对化肥的影响不大。土壤碳和pH值以及树木数量是小米产量的最佳预测指标，但总体预测能力适中（R ²  <0.34）。这项研究为萨赫勒地区的社区面临着土壤肥力枯竭和粮食不安全所带来的挑战，为当地技术和知识在维持农业生产力的斗争中发挥的作用提供了新的思路。