Summary
The use of N and P by mixed and by sole crop** (crop rotation) of maize and cowpeas were compared in a field experiment on an Alfisol at the Nyankpala Agricultural Experiment Station in the northern Guinea Savanna of Ghana, using two levels of N (0 and 80 kg N ha-1 year-1 as urea) and P application (0 and 60 kg P ha-1 year-1 as Volta phosphate rock). Maize grain yields were significantly reduced in the mixed crop** system. This yield difference became smaller with the application of N and P fertilizer. The N and P concentrations in maize ear leaves at silking indicated that a deficiency in N and P contributed to the maize yield depression in mixed crop**. Competition for soil and fertilizer N between maize and cowpeas was suggested by: (1) A similarity in total N uptake between the two crop** systems; (2) efficient use of soil nitrate by the cowpeas; and (3) low N2 fixation by the cowpeas, calculated with the aid of an extended-difference method. In general, N2 fixation was low, with the highest values in the sole crop** (53 kg ha-1) and a substantial reduction in the mixed crop** system. The application of N fertilizer further reduced N2 fixation. This was substantiated by nodule counts. The lower N2 fixation in the mixed crop** system was only partly explained by the lower density of cowpeas in this system. In addition, dry spells during the crop** season and shading by the maize component could have reduced the nodulation efficiency. No N transfer from the legume/rhizobium to the non-legume crop was observed. Impaired P nutrition in the mixed compared with the sole-cropped maize might have been due to less P mobility in the soil. This was indicated by lower soil moisture contents in the topsoil under mixed crop**, especially during the dry year of 1986. The results show that mixed crop** of maize and cowpeas did not lead to improved use of soil and fertilizer N and P or to an enhanced N2 fixation. On the contrary, an annual rotation of maize and cowpeas was clearly superior.
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Härdter, R., Horst, W.J. Nitrogen and phosphorus use in maize sole crop** and maize/cowpea mixed crop** systems on an Alfisol in the northern Guinea Savanna of Ghana. Biol Fert Soils 10, 267–275 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00337377
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00337377