A Effect of two Crotalaria species on soil biological fertility in the South Sudanian zone of Burkina Faso
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.64707/revstsna.v45i01.2259Keywords:
Intercropping, Crotalaria spp, organo-mineral amendments, biological indicators, sustainable soil restorationAbstract
Soil biological activity governs nutrient cycling and soil health, and these processes
are enhanced by cover legumes such as Crotalaria spp. Split-plot experiments
conducted in 2023 and 2024 at Noumousso assessed the effects of C. mucronata and
C. retusa combined with four organo-mineral amendment treatments, each replicated
four times : T0 (control), organic matter (OM), Burkina phosphate rock (BPR), and
BPR + OM. The soil biological indicators measured included microbial biomass
(MB, using the fumigation–incubation method), daily CO2 emissions (respirometric
test), microbial yield (MY), overall mineralization rate (OMR), and metabolic
quotient (qCO2), calculated according to standard protocols. The dynamics of CO2
evolution displayed three distinct phases, with higher values recorded in 2024. Both
species produced similar effects. For each species, the OM + BPR treatment
consistently resulted in the highest daily CO2 evolution, OMR, and MB values.
Under C. mucronata, microbial biomass in the OM + BPR treatment reached 173.3 ±
0.6 mg 100 g-1 in 2023 and 274.1 ± 1.6 mg 100 g-1 in 2024. Under C. retusa, the
corresponding values were 181.1 ± 2.6 mg 100 g-1 and 279.0 ± 6.1 mg 100 g-1,
respectively. The effectiveness of biological soil restoration was demonstrated by
significant improvements in the measured variables between 2023 and 2024. These
findings therefore indicate that improved fallows based on Crotalaria species,
combined with organo-mineral amendments, represent a promising agroecological
strategy for the sustainable restoration of soils in the South-Sudanian zone.
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