Maize response to temporary floods under ambient on-farm conditions of the West African Sahel

Daku, E K and Salack, S and Worou, O N and Ogunjobi, K (2022) Maize response to temporary floods under ambient on-farm conditions of the West African Sahel. Environmental Research Communications, 12 (4). pp. 1-11. ISSN 2515-7620

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Abstract

With the ongoing global warming, the occurrence and amplitude of extreme weather events have increased over the West African Sahel. The increasing frequency of heavy rain events, can negatively affect the lowland crops’ growth and production. Two-season field experiments were conducted near Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) to test the effects of temporary flooding and surface water stagnation on maize (Zea mays L.) growth and productivity. The treatments were organized into a split-split plot design. Three factors were monitored, including aboveground flooding levels (i.e., 0 cm, 2–3 cm, and 7–8 cm), flooding duration (i.e., three days and six days), and growth stages (i.e., six-leaf stage (V6), tasseling stage (VT) and milky stage (R3)). Optimal crop management was practiced to Obatanpa cultivar planted during the rainy season and flooding was induced by over-irrigation. The results show that three days and six days of flooding, reduced grain yield by at least 35% when they occurred at the tasseling stage. Only 4–6 days of flooding reduced grain yield by 21% at the six-leaf stage. Further scrutiny, using the stress day index (SDI), revealed that the penalty on yield increases exponentially under flooding conditions as the value of the stress day index increases. Considering the new characteristics of the rainfall regime in the West African Sahel, dominated by a high frequency of heavy rain events and wet spells, temporary floods, and water stagnation are tremendously contributing to yield loss of on-farm maize. As the region’s climate changes, we hypothesize that excess water stress will become the next cause of food insecurity in the area.

Item Type:	Article
Divisions:	Research Program : West & Central Africa
CRP:	UNSPECIFIED
Uncontrolled Keywords:	obatanpa maize, flooding, stress day index, yield loss, Burkina Faso, West African Sahel
Subjects:	Others > Burkina Faso Others > Floods Others > Maize
Depositing User:	Mr Nagaraju T
Date Deposited:	14 Mar 2024 03:20
Last Modified:	14 Mar 2024 03:20
URI:	http://oar.icrisat.org/id/eprint/12575
Official URL:	https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2515-76...
Projects:	UNSPECIFIED
Funders:	UNSPECIFIED
Acknowledgement:	This work was partially funded by the UPSCALERS project (Grant#AURGII-1-074-2016, 2018-2021), which is part of the African Union Research Grants financed through the Financing Agreement between the European Commission and the African Union Commission (DCI-PANAF/2015/307-078) and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) through the West African Science Centre for Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL). The content of this paper is the sole responsibility of the authors. It can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the African Union Commission or European Union Commission. The authors appreciate the advice of Koffi Djaman, from the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Agricultural Science Centre at Farmington, New Mexico State University, United States of America.
Links:	Google Scholar

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