relation: http://oar.icrisat.org/11554/
title: Towards bamboo agroforestry development in Ghana: evaluation of crop performance, soil properties and economic benefit
creator: Akoto, D S
creator: Partey, S T
creator: Denich, M
creator: Kwaku, M
creator: Borgemeister, C
creator: Schmitt, C B
subject: Ghana
subject: Sustainable Agriculture
subject: Crop Yield
subject: Soil Science
subject: Agriculture-Farming, Production, Technology, Economics
subject: Food Security
description: In the quest to promote bamboo agroforestry  in the dry semi-deciduous forest zone of  Ghana, we evaluated changes in soil properties, crop  productivity and the economic potential of a bamboobased  intercropping system. The intercropping system  was established from 3-months old sympodial  bamboo (Bambusa balcooa) seedlings planted at a  5 m95 m spacing and intercropped with maize,  cassava or cowpea. Separate monocropping fields for  maize, cassava, cowpea and bamboo were set up  adjacent to the intercropped field. In both the  intercropping and monocropping fields, plots were  with fertilizer treatments and without. The experiment  was laid out in a split plot design with four  replicates and studied over three years. Economic  analysis was conducted using the financial benefit-cost ratio method. The results showed that regardless  of fertilizer treatments, bamboo agroforestry and  monocropped fields had comparable effects on soil  properties and crop productivity within two years of  establishment. In the third year, however, bamboo  agroforestry had significantly (p\0.05) higher soil  moisture, pH and crop productivity levels. An  intercropping advantage over monocropping was  evident for all crops with respective partial land  equivalent ratios for fertilized and non-fertilized  intercropped systems as follows: cowpea (1.37 and  1.54), maize (1.38 and 1.36), and cassava (1.12 and  1.19). The economic evaluation also indicated  marginal profitability of bamboo intercropping over  monocropping systems. From the results obtained,  there are clear indications that where bamboo is a  prioritized woody perennial, integrated systems with  crops may be encouraged.
publisher: Springer
date: 2020-04
type: Article
type: PeerReviewed
format: application/pdf
language: en
identifier: http://oar.icrisat.org/11554/1/s10457-020-00493-7.pdf
identifier:   Akoto, D S and Partey, S T and Denich, M and Kwaku, M and Borgemeister, C and Schmitt, C B  (2020) Towards bamboo agroforestry development in Ghana: evaluation of crop performance, soil properties and economic benefit.  Agroforestry Systems (TSI).   ISSN 0167-4366     
relation: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-020-00493-7
relation: doi:10.1007/s10457-020-00493-7