PRODUCTIVITY AND STABILITY OF MAIZE GRAIN YIELD IN LIVING WALL TERRACES IN THE SEMIHUMID TROPICS OF MEXICO
Since 1988, a permanent experiment has been installed on unirrigated, eroded hillsides, with 14.5 % slope. The purpose of this experiment was to restore productivity and improve and stabilize the yield of a double cropped corn (Zea mays L.). Terraces were formed by: a) establishing two types of live hedgerows, Gliricidia sepium and Leucaena leucocephala at 0.75 and 1.00 m vertical difference of level, b) the installation of a filter for sediment at the base of the trees, c) the removal of soil by reversible plowing either by mechanical traction or by animals, and d) the local erosion within each terrace. The corn crops received the same agronomic management in each treatment, including the control, where no terraces were established. After five years (1991 to 1995) of research it was found that the average yield of corn on the terraced fields, where animal traction had been used, surpassed that of the control test field, by 815 kg ha-1 during the fall-winter growing season, when the moisture was limited; whereas during the springsummer season, when there was excessive moisture, the control test field yielded 290 kg ha-1 more. The difference, then, for the total annual production was 525 kg ha-1 in favor of the terraced fields. The favorable effect of the terraces on corn productivity was more pronounced on the higher sections of the hillside, where there were an increase of 815 kg ha-1 during the fall-winter growing season and 355 kg ha-1 during the spring-summer season, with an increase of 1170 kg ha-1 for the total annual yield. On the other hand, on the lower sections of the hillside, the terraced fields surpassed the control test field by 810 kg ha-1 of corn in the fall-winter season, but they yielded 955 kg ha-1 less in the spring-summer season. The results indicate that the terraces with live hedgerows played a major role in increasing the productivity of the hillsides and improving the stability of the annual yield of the double corn crops. Nevertheless, adequate terrace management is required. This must be consistent with the moisture of the soil, as well as with the development of crop patterns adaptable to the variable conditions of moisture found on the hillsides.
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Digital revista |
| Language: | spa |
| Published: |
Colegio de Postgraduados
1998
|
| Online Access: | https://www.agrociencia-colpos.org/index.php/agrociencia/article/view/1560 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|