eprintid: 11554
rev_number: 12
eprint_status: archive
userid: 3170
dir: disk0/00/01/15/54
datestamp: 2020-08-14 11:36:00
lastmod: 2020-08-14 11:36:00
status_changed: 2020-08-14 11:36:00
type: article
metadata_visibility: show
creators_name: Akoto, D S
creators_name: Partey, S T
creators_name: Denich, M
creators_name: Kwaku, M
creators_name: Borgemeister, C
creators_name: Schmitt, C B
icrisatcreators_name: Partey, S T
affiliation: Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn
affiliation: International Bamboo and Rattan Organization (INBAR), PMB, Fumesua, Kumasi
affiliation: University of Energy and Natural Resources, Sunyani
affiliation: ICRISAT (Bamako)
country: Germany
country: Ghana
country: Mali
title: Towards bamboo agroforestry development in Ghana: evaluation of crop performance, soil properties and economic benefit
ispublished: pub
subjects: GH1
subjects: S25
subjects: cr1
subjects: s2.11
subjects: s2.4
subjects: s26
divisions: CRPS1
full_text_status: public
keywords: Agroecology, Crop productivity, Food security, Soil productivity, Sustainable agriculture
note: Open Access funding provided by
Projekt DEAL. This paper was produced as an activity of
BiomassWeb (grant no. 031A258A), a project funded by the
German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
in the context of the initiative GlobE ‘‘Securing the Global
Food Supply’’. BiomassWeb is managed by the Center for
Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn, Germany.
Authors are also very grateful to Dr. Obiri-Darko (Principal
Scientist- Forestry Research Institute of Ghana, (FORIG)/
CSIR-Ghana) and International Bamboo and Rattan
Organization (INBAR) for the consultancy work on the
economic analysis.
abstract: 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.
date: 2020-04
date_type: published
publication: Agroforestry Systems (TSI)
publisher: Springer
id_number: doi:10.1007/s10457-020-00493-7
refereed: TRUE
issn: 0167-4366
official_url: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-020-00493-7
related_url_url: https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=10.1007%2Fs10457-020-00493-7&btnG=
related_url_type: pub
citation:   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     
document_url: http://oar.icrisat.org/11554/1/s10457-020-00493-7.pdf