Conservation farming in rain-fed agriculture: can biogeotextile, cover crop residues, and soil tillage application improve the growth and the yield of maize (Zea mays L.)?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15243/jdmlm.2018.061.1409Keywords:
biogeotextile, conservation farming, cover crop residue, soil tillage, Zea maysAbstract
Market demand for maize (Zea mays L.) in Indonesia is increasing from time to time along with the increasing demand for food and livestock for fodder. However, current farming practices in the upland area where maize usually cultivated, threaten the sustainability of maize production. Conservation farming could be an alternative to reduce land and soil degradation caused by current farming practices. A factorial randomized block designed field experiment was conducted to determine the combined effect of biogeotextile with cover crop residues and soil tillage on growth and yield of maize. The treatments included utilization of Mendong plant’s mat (Fimbrystilis globulosa) as biogeotextile material and four cover crop species: Sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea), Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata), Pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan), and Mucuna (Mucuna spp). The results showed that the biogeotextile mat and cover crop residues, but not soil tillage, increased maize height and the number of leaves, and yield of maize. Biogeotextile mulch increased maize yield up to 43% compared to control. The highest yield (8.0 t/ha) was shown by the combination of biogeotextile application with cowpea residues. Conservation farming is prospective for improving plant production and protecting land from degradation.References
Adiele, J.G., Chukwu, L.I., Ano, A.O. and Echendu, T.N. 2014. Management of short fallows using two different cover crops. Greener Journal of Agriculture Science 4:058-066.
Boechori, M.I. and Suprayogo, D. 2018. The effectiveness of biogeotextile on myccorhiza diversity to increase the yield of potato in Andisol, Batu, East Java. Jurnal Tanah dan Sumberdaya Lahan 5:747-754 (in Indonesian).
Contreras, S.M., Urriza, G.I.P, Nagumo, F., Tejada, S.Q., Gesite, A., Creencia, R.P. and Dimaano, R.A.A. 2014. Evaluation of pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) cover cropping and “No-Till†as a soil and crop management practice in corn (Zea mays L.) area of Isabella, Philippines. Tropical Agriculture Development 58:66-74.
Dickey, E.C., Fenster, C.R., Laflen, J.N. and Mickelson, R.H. 1983. Effects of tillage on soil erosion in a wheat-fallow rotation. Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publication p. 249.
Dieleman, J.A. and Heuvelink, E. 1992. Factors affecting the number of leaves preceding the first inflorescence in the tomato. Journal of Horticultural Science 67:1-10.
Fullen, M.A., Booth, C.A., Sarsby, R.W., Davies, K., Kugan, R., Bhattacharyya, R., Subedi, M., Luckhurst, D.A., Poesen, J., Smets, T., Kertesz, A., Toth, A., Szalai, Z., Jakab, G., Kozma., Jankauskas, B., Jankauskiene, G., Buhmann, C, Patterson, G., Mulibana, E., Nell, J.P.,van der Merwe, G.M.E., Guerra, A.J.T., Mendonca, J.K.S., Guerra, T.T., Sathler, R., Bezerra, J.F.R., Peres, S.M., Yi, Z., Yongmei, L., Li, T., Panomtarachichigul, M., Peukrai, S., Thu, D.C., Cuong, T.H., Toan, T.T., Jonsyn-Ellis, F., Jallow, S., Cole, A., Mulholland, B., Dearlove, M. and Corkill, C. 2007. Contribution of biogeotextiles to sustainable development and soil conservation in developing countries: the BORASSUS project. WIT Transaction of Ecology and the Environment. Ecosystem and Sustainable Development VI 106:123-141.
Fahmi, A., Syamsudin, Utami, S.N.H., and Radjagukguk, B. 2010. Effect of nitrogen and phosphorus interaction on the growth of maize (Zea mays L.) in regosol and latosol. Berita Biologi 10(3):297-304 (in Indonesian).
Gajri, P.R., Arora, V.K. and Chaudhary, M.R. 1994. Maize growth responses to deep tillage, straw mulching and farmyard manure in coarse-textured soils of N.W. India. Soil Use and Management 10:15-20.
Hammad, H.M., Ahmad, A., Wajib, A. and Akhter, J. 2011. Maize response to time and rate of nitrogen application. Pakistan Journal of Botany 43(4):1932-1942.
Haque, M.M., Kim, S.Y., Kim, G.W. and Kim, P.J. 2015. Optimization of removal and recycling ratio of cover crop biomass using carbon balance to sustain soil organic carbon stocks in a mono-rice paddy system. Agriculture, Ecosystem & Environment 207:119-125.
Horst, W.J. and Härdter, R. 1994. Rotation od maize with cowpea improves yield and nutrient use of maize compared to maize monocropping in an alfisol in the northern Guinnea Savana of Ghana. Plant and Soil 160(2):171-183.
Jankauskas, B., Jankauskiene, G., and Fullen, M.A. 2012a. Soil conservation on road embankments using plam-mat geotextiles: field studies in Lithuania. Soil Use and Management 28(2):266-275.
Jankauskas, B., Jankauskiene, G. and Fullen, M.A. 2012b. A field experiment on the use of biogeotextile for the conservation of sand-dunes of the Baltic coast in Lithuania. Hungarian Geographical Bulletin 61:3-17.
Jeranyama, P., Hesterman, O.B., Waddington, S.R. and Harwood, R.R. 2000. Relay-Intercropping of sunn hemp and cowpea into a smallholder maize system in Zimbabwe. Agronomy Journal 92:239-244.
Kader, M.A., Senge, M., Mojid, M.A. and Nakamura, K. 2017. Mulching type-induced soil moisture and temperature regimes and water use efficiency of soybean under rain-fed condition in central Japan. International Soil and Water Conservation Research 5:302-308.
Khurshid, K., Iqbal, M., Arief, M.S. and Nawaz, A.. 2006. Effect of tillage and mulch on soil physical properties and growth of maize. International Journal of Agriculture and Biology 8:593-596.
Li, R., Hou, X., Jia, Z., Han, Q., Ren, X. and Yang, B. 2013. Effect on soil temperature, moisture, and maize yield of cultivation with ridge and furrow mulching in the rainfed area of the loess Plateau, China. Agricultural Water Management 116:101-109.
Mangaravite, J.C.S., Passos, R.R., Andrade, F.V., Burak, D.L. and Mendonça, E.S. 2014. Phytomass production and nutrient accumulation by green manure species. Revista Ceres 61(5):732-739.
Ministry of Agriculture. 2015. Strategic plan of the Ministry of Agriculture of Indonesia year 2015-2019. Jakarta.
Muhamman, M.A., Auwalu, B.M. and Mohammed, S.G 2014. Response of maize (Zea mays L.) to aqueous extract of moringa (Moringa oleifera LAM.) and nitrogen rates. Scientific Papers Series A. Agronomy 57:264-271.
Ngwira, A.R., Aune, J.B. and Mkwinda, S. 2012. On-farm evaluation of yield and economic benefit of short term maize legume intercropping systems under conservation agriculture in Malawi. Field Crops Research 132:149-157.
Ogbobe, G., Essien, K.S. and Adebayo, A. 1998. A study of biodegradable geotextiles used for erosion control. Geosynthetics International Journal 5:545-553.
Pradana, T.A., Nugroho, A. and Guritno, B. 2015. Effect of various organic mulchon the growth and the yield of soybean (Glycine max L.). Jurnal Produksi Tanaman 3(8):658-665 (in Indonesian).
Prasetyo, R.A., Nugroho, A. and Moenandir, J. 2014. The effect of soil tillage system and various type od organic mulch on growth and yield of soybean (Glycine Max (L.) Merr) Var. Grobogan. Jurnal Produksi Tanaman 1(6):486-495(in Indonesian).
Qi, R., Li, J., Lin, Z., Li, Z., Li, Y., Yang, X., Zhang, J. and Zhao, B. 2016. Temperature effects on soil organic carbon, soil labile organic carbon fraction, and soil enzyme activities under long-term fertilization regimes. Applied Soil Ecology 102:36-45.
Rotar, P.P. and Joy, R.J. 1983. 'Tropic Sun' sunn hemp, Crotalaria juncea L. Research Extension Series 036 University of Hawaii, Honolulu
Rusinamhodzi, L., Corbeels, M., van Wijk, M, T., Rufino, M.C., Nyamangara, J., and Giller, K.E. 2011. A meta-analysis of long-term effects of conservation agriculture on maize grain yield under rain-fed conditions. Agronomy for Sustainable Development 31: 657-673.
Sidhu, A.S., Sekhon, N.K., Thind, S.S. and Hira, G.S. 2007. Soil temperature, growth and yield of maize (Zea mays L.) as affected by wheat straw mulch. Archieves of Agronomy and Soil Science 53(1):95-102.
Subedi, M., Fullen, M, A., Booth, C, A., Sarsrby, R, W., Poesen, J., Kertesz, A., Jankauskas, B., Bhattacharya, R., Kugan R., Smets, T., Toth, A., Szalai, Z. and Jankauskiene, G. 2012. Contribution of biogeotextiles to soil conservation and socio-economic development. Outlook on Agriculture 41(3):187-194.
Suminarti, N.E. 2011. Planting taro on dry and wet condition. Dissertation. Postgraduate Program of Brawijaya University. Malang (in Indonesian).
Teame, G., Tsegay, A. and Abrha, B. 2017. Effect of organic mulching on soil moisture, yield and yield contributing components of sesame (Sesanum indicum L.). International Journal of Agronomy 2017:1-6
Thierfelder, C., Chisui, J.L, Gama, M., Cheesman, S., Jere, Z.D., Bundeson, T., Eash, N.S. and Rusinamhodzi, L. 2013. Maize-Based conservation agriculture systems in Malawi: Long-term trends in productivity. Field Crops Research 142:47-57.
Ruis-Vega, J., Nunes-Barrios, A.and Cruz-Ruiz, M.A. 2010. Decomposition rates of intercropped green manure crops in Oaxa, Mexico. Anadolu Journal of Agricultural Science25(S-3):212-26
Williams, J.D., Gollany, H.T., Siemens, M.C., Wuest, S.B. and Long, D.S. 2009. Comparison of runoff, soil erosion, and winter wheat yields from No-Till and inversion tillage production systems in Northeastern Oregon. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 64:43-52.
Yuliana, A.I., Sumarni, T. and Islami, T. 2015. Application of bokashi and sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea) to improve organic fertilizer efficiency of maize (Zea mays L.). Journal of Degraded and Mining Lands Management 3(1): 433-438.
Downloads
Submitted
Accepted
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Submission of a manuscript implies: that the work described has not been published before (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture, or thesis) that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere; that if and when the manuscript is accepted for publication, the authors agree to automatic transfer of the copyright to the publisher. 
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Scientific Journal by Eko Handayanto is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at https://ub.ac.id.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at https://ircmedmind.ub.ac.id/.
This work is licensed under a 