The traditional agriculture production system in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) caused significant soil erosion and degradation of soil quality. In addition, dependability of rainfall for irrigation needs limits the crop production. Advanced agricultural practices are thus needed at the local level to sustain the livelihood of smallholder farmers in the region. In this study, conservation agriculture (CA) practice with drip irrigation technology was compared (using field experiments and watershed modeling) with the traditional conventional tillage (CT) practice for its potential in improving soil quality and crop productivity in the region. Biophysical data were collected (2015 to 2017) from a total of 43 paired plots (CA and CT) at four study sites in SSA: Dangishita and Robit in Ethiopia, Yemu in Ghana, and Mkindo in Tanzania. The Agricultural Policy/Environmental eXtender (APEX) model was calibrated and validated with reasonable efficiency in simulating crop yields for both CA and CT practices; average PBIAS ≤±12% and ≤±11%, for CA and CT. The impact of the CA system on soil quality (soil carbon [C] and nitrogen [N]) was analyzed based on the well-tested model prediction results. The total C and N were increased under CA across the study sites on average by 6% and 4.1%, when compared to CT over the study period. Both the experiment and model prediction showed that crop yield was significantly improved by CA—on average 37.4% increases across the sites when compared to CT. Conservation agriculture with drip irrigation was an efficient local strategy to improve crop production in the region while enhancing the ecosystem.

中文翻译：

---

滴灌保护性农业：对撒哈拉以南非洲土壤质量和作物产量的影响

撒哈拉以南非洲（SSA）的传统农业生产系统造成了严重的水土流失和土壤质量退化。此外，灌溉需要降雨的可靠性限制了作物生产。因此，地方一级需要先进的农业实践来维持该地区小农的生计。在这项研究中，使用滴灌技术的保护性农业 (CA) 实践（使用田间试验和流域模型）与传统的常规耕作 (CT) 实践进行了比较，以了解其在改善该地区土壤质量和作物生产力方面的潜力。在 SSA 的四个研究地点（埃塞俄比亚的 Dangishita 和 Robit、加纳的 Yemu 和坦桑尼亚的 Mkindo）从总共 43 个配对地块（CA 和 CT）收集了生物物理数据（2015 年至 2017 年）。农业政策/环境扩展器 (APEX) 模型经过校准和验证，在模拟 CA 和 CT 实践的作物产量方面具有合理的效率；对于 CA 和 CT，平均 PBIAS ≤±12% 和 ≤±11%。基于经过充分验证的模型预测结果，分析了 CA 系统对土壤质量（土壤碳 [C] 和氮 [N]）的影响。与研究期间的 CT 相比，在 CA 下，整个研究地点的总 C 和 N 平均增加了 6% 和 4.1%。实验和模型预测都表明，CA 显着提高了作物产量——与 CT 相比，各个地点的作物产量平均增加了 37.4%。滴灌保护性农业是提高该地区作物产量同时改善生态系统的有效地方战略。