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Coberagri-L (Year 2001)
(CIDICCO's Spanish language electronic discussion group)
-return
to main gmcc discussion archives menu-
English summaries of Spanish traffic
- green manure/cover
crops (GMCCs)-
(go to 2000 coberagri-L discussions)
Portuguese translation of kudzu soil fertility restoration article
Cleber Andrade wrote to the list (2/01) to post a Portuguese translation of a 1945 article on some of the benefits of kudzu (Peuraria phaseoloides) for soil fertility restoration in Alabama.
Cover
crops in banana and plantain systems (3/01)
A question on the use of cover crops in banana and plantain systems (3/01)
prompted a number of replies on overstory/fruit tree/cover crop interplantings.
Paul Miller reported (in English) on Jorge Vivan's work in Rio Grande
do Sul, Brazil in intercropping bananas with multiple native overstory
species, which resulted in soil cover by litter, reduced fungal disease
pressure, and a more humid understory. Angel Salazar reported (with photos)
on a papaya/citrus/native overstory system in the lowlands of Bolivia,
with legume and grass cover crops. Legume cover crops were kudzu and mucuna;
both legume and grass covers needed suppression through weeding. Papaya
provides early economic returns to the system and is removed as the citrus
trees enter production.
Intercropping
system of maize with "reina" (lima) beans (4/01)
Raul Aleman (4/01) posted the results of a workshop with many interesting
details on the intercropping system of maize with "reina" (lima)
beans (Phaseolus lunatus) in western Honduras, and asked for further
contributions on systems using P. lunatus. Gabino Lopez responded
with some information on a maize/bean interplanting scheme in San Martin
Jilotepeque, Guatemala, using several varieties (colors) of traditional
beans known as "piloy" (and in the Yucatan as "ives").
Some farmers are abandoning the practice in favor of herbicides; Gabino
stressed the need to characterize, research, and promote the system. Donald
Kass responded further that "piloy" was a variety of Phaseolus
polyanthus, and in his experience was very resistant to many Guatemalan
plant pests and diseases.
Green
manure cover crops for passion fruit (5/01)
A question from Reinhard Bader (5/01) on associated green manure cover
crops for maracuyá (passion fruit, Passiflora edulis) prompted
several responses. Bader was involved in a trial of canavalia with passion
fruit in the Dominican Republic. Larry Sell wrote to give several references
of NGOs in the Dominican Republic that do work with interplanting of canavalia
and arachis (probably A. pintoi, forage peanut) with passion fruit.
In other crops such as citrus, the legume Desmodium (species not mentioned)
is also used.
Green
manure/cover crops for arid areas (5/01)
A question arrived from CATIE/MIP in Nicaragua (5/01) on green manure/cover
crops for arid areas, both as late season green manures to scavenge remnant
soil water going into the dry season, or as intercropped covers that compete
minimally with the main season dry-area crops such as maize or sorghum.
Larry sell wrote that crotalaria in the Dominican Republic grew best on
remnant water going into the dry season. Milton Flores wrote that CIDICCO
had promising results with cowpea (Vigna unguiculata), grown as
a food/green manure with the vines incorporated (5-7 Mg/ha dry matter)
after 80 days of growth and before the next main season. They had also
tried cowpea as an intercrop with cassava, maize, and maicillo (sorghum).
Pigeon pea was also interesting as a dual purpose food/green manure. Canavalia
seemed adaptable to a wide range of systems. Reinaldo Cardona wrote that
since 1996 a plant pathology group in Venezuela has had excellent results
with crotalaria as a green manure crop, with suppressive effects on charcoal
stalk rot of maize caused by Macrophomina phaseolina. Crotalaria
is incorporated 30 to 40 days after planting as a green manure, and a
smaller area can be left to mature for seed. Axel Schmidt wrote from CIAT-Nicaragua
to tell about trials being done there of about 50 or so different varieties
of cowpea and other annual legumes for dry areas of Nicaragua. Data from
Australia had shown that these were promising for biomass production in
dry conditions. Carlos Perez wrote that a group in Chinandega, Nicaragua
had evaluated different legume covers for "super-arid" areas.
(See continued discussion on arid gmcc's
during July 01)
Mucuna
intercropped as a cover in banana/coffee systems (5/01)
A report on mucuna intercropped as a cover in banana/coffee systems (5/01)
with smallholder farmers in several Colombian provinces reported good
ground coverage by mucuna in four months when seeded at two seeds per
2 meters squared. Mucuna gave great benefit when interseeded with bananas,
including protection from pathogenic nematodes. Mucuna also provided forage
and food products. Julie Grossman wrote to tell of her work on nitrogen
fixation in leguminous trees such as Inga in coffee systems in Chiapas,
Mexico, and also referred to other work done in Nicaragua in the 90s with
Arachis pintoi and other legume ground covers in coffee systems.
Charles Staver wrote with a reference to a CIAT workshop proceedings and
some CIDICCO work on Arachis pintoi under coffee. Overall the results
were not positive in shade coffee due to high establishment costs of Arachis
pintoi, although it might be promising in sun-grown systems.
Roland Bunch returned to this discussion in July to ask about mucuna taking over banana plantations so that new banana shoots from older trees could not emerge or develop well. Since he had seen this problem in Bolivia he wondered if mucuna was controlled by hand mowing or pruning in other regions. Donald Kass responded that a farmer-developed mucuna/banana system using aggressive mucuna pruning had been very successful in Nicaragua.
Hewart Groll wrote about comparisons he made between kudzu and mucuna as used by farmers in the Madre de Diós (lowland rain forest) department of Peru. Farmers there prefer kudzu to mucuna in a banana à fruit tree successional system because Mucuna tends to stifle the banana's vegetative reproduction. Kudzu (and presumably other suitable ground covers) with bananas is also increasing in popularity because bananas are more widely spaced to avoid "gorgojo negro" (an insect larval pest), so that a combined weed smothering/forage crop is very attractive between banana trees. He noted that crotalaria is also very suitable if forage is not a pressing need of the farming household. Interestingly, William Velasquez also replied to Roland Bunch about the difficulty of managing mucuna with bananas, saying that in Colombia such a problem had never been faced and in general the practice was highly praised by farmers.
Slugs
in cover cropped systems
Several questions came out of a report from Alfredo Bernabé, Los
Tuxtlas, Mexico (5/01), in which a maize/Mucuna (pruriens?) interseeding
project is also investigating the use of pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan),
Vigna spp., Dolichos spp., and Mucuna africana, as
well as peanut, which seems particularly promising. The first question
was that in several instances slugs were greatly encouraged in the cover
cropped fields, which caused a return to clean cultivation for the growing
of beans, a crop that is especially susceptible to slugs. Alfredo asked
advice in the management of slugs in cover cropped systems. In addition,
he wondered if peanut actually encouraged erosion, since it is uprooted
at harvest and thus might leave the soil more vulnerable. Raúl
Alemán wrote with a short posting from a MIP-Laderas project in
Nicaragua which described a farmer-developed recipe of slug traps with
a sorghum/corn beer. (In an earlier March message, H.D.Thurston forwarded
a bibliography on slug control -see March 9
entry from this mulch-L discussion).
GMCC
module/residues
Milton Flores wrote to the list (6/01) to post a draft of a new modular
unit or "KIT" on green manure/ cover crop systems which seeks
as a module to define these systems and the basic principles behind them.
Axel Schmidt responded with several suggestions, including an exploration
of the different advantages and disadvantages of leaving residue on the
soil surface versus incorporating it, including nutrient losses that might
occur at the soil surface. Paul Miller responded that due to many characteristics
of decomposing residues (pH, aeration), the risks of nutrient loss mentioned
were not as great as thought. Miller later wrote to reinforce that cover
crop/green manure systems move in the right direction in multiple other
ways, including tighter nutrient cycling and lower greenhouse gas emission.
L-dopa
in mucuna
Ricardo Quiroga-Madrigal wrote to ask for references on environmental
factors that influence the L-dopa content of Mucuna for work to be done
at a Chiapas, Mexico University on this subject (L-dopa is constituent
of Mucuna toxic to certain monogastrid livestock in large quantities;
see the 2000 Coberagri-L summary
for a discussion on this theme).
High
elevation cover crops (7/21)
Martha Rosemeyer wrote to the list (7/01) to ask for cover crops for use
at altitudes around 2000 meters. Brian Sims responded that woolypod vetch
(Vicia villosa ssp. dasycarpa, an Iranian variety) had given excellent
results in Cochabamba, Bolivia, at altitudes up to 4000 meters, for soil
protection and production of high quality forage. Julio Beingolea wrote
to summarize work being done in Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia in forage and
cover crops for altitudes from 3,000 to 4,000 meters. In Bolivia, tarwi
(Lupinus mutabilis) was used most frequently from altitudes from
3200 to 4000 meters. In Ecuador a common vetch (Vicia sativa)/oat
(Avena sativa) mix was most common between 3,200 and 3,800 meters,
while an oat/pea (Pisum sativum) mix was best between 2,800 and
3,200. Tarwi is also used from 3,200 to 3,800 meters in Ecuador. In Peru
there was interest in both "summer vetch" (V. sativa)
and "winter vetch" (V. villosa) which was thought to
be a better producer of forage and establish for a longer time at high
altitudes.
Milton Flores also responded to a question from Catherine Bauraind (7/01) in highland Peru, to say that as of yet, vetches, tarwi, peas, and clovers seemed to be the legumes best suited to highland tropical areas. In August Milton added a reference to some work by researchers at Colegio de la Frontera Sur in Chiapas, Mexico, which had found that two vetches (Vicia spp.) and a native plant, Dalea leporina, were promising from the standpoint of cost, establishment, yields, and acceptance as forage by sheep. (See also year 2000 highland cover crop discussions on coberagri-L).
Cover
crops in arid areas (part 2)
Roland Bunch responded to a question on cover crops suited to arid areas
and drought conditions with the list canavalia (C. ensiformis and
C gladiatus), Dolichos (D. lablab), tephrosia (T. candida
and T. vogelii) and gandúl (pigeon pea, Cajanus cajan).
He cautioned that these crops are more sensitive to drought at certain
times in their development than others. Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata)
was another second-place candidate. Canavalia and tephrosia seem to do
well in infertile soils, while Dolichos is suited to fertile soils. On
competition with interplanted main crops, Roland responded that canavalia
had reduced maize yields approximately 20 percent, which could be a serious
problem, whereas Mucuna caused no such yield decline. In Nicaragua and
Haiti, in fact, there had been cases where the association of Mucuna led
to increased yields; probably due to soil shading and provision of nitrogen,
even as the Mucuna was growing and before incorporation.
Milton Flores posted a report to the list about a study with canavalia and mucuna intercropping with maize in Oaxaca, Mexico, with some very interesting findings about these covers ability to reduce rainfall runoff and soil erosion, and lower the incidence of kernel diseases. A cost/benefit analysis is also included in the results.
Feeding
of mucuna and guanacaste to livestock
Milton Flores responded to a question on feeding of mucuna and guanacaste
(Enterolobium ciclocarpum) to livestock. He referred briefly to
a thesis on feeding these crops as a replacement for soybean flour. This
work is available as a publication in Spanish available from CIDICCO.
Cover
crops as suppressors and/or hosts for nematodes
In November, Milton also sent a summary of an interesting discussion available
in English on Mulch-L on cover crops as suppressors and/or hosts for nematodes
(See Mulch-L nematode discussion). See the 2000
Coberagri-L nematode summary for another discussion on this point.
Milton also sent a summary of another Mulch-L discussion on green manure
crops for flooded rice systems (11/01). Donald Kass completed one of the
references in this summary, which gives a list of forage crops found to
be resistant to periodic inundation, as in rice systems.
Cover
crops for a banana/papaya row intercropped plantation in Puerto Rico
Michael McGuire wrote (11/01) to ask about cover crops for a banana/papaya
row intercropped plantation in Puerto Rico. Larry Sell responded to recommend
Canavalia ensiformis from his experience in the Dominican Republic;
this cover had increased production of bananas. Milton Flores also replied
(12/01) to add some advice from Central American experiences. Mucuna had
done well, aside from the challenge of keeping it cut back from the trees.
Waiting for an entire cycle of mucuna growth to finish and plants to senesce,
or cutting it at highest biomass and planting into a dead mulch were promising
practices. Another idea for managing mucuna was to put alternate vining
stakes in the ground so that the mucuna climbs on these rather than on
the banana trees. Milton also recommended Canavalia ensiformis
as much easier to manage than mucuna, or mucuna for one season before
establishing trees, followed by a ground cover like forage peanut (Arachis
pintoi) that is easier to manage.
"Bush
sitao"; cowpea (Vigna spp.)
Milton Flores sent along a Spanish summary of a Mulch-L discussion (in
English) on "yard long bean", "frijol rienda", or
"bush sitao", a species of cowpea (Vigna spp.). This
drew comments from Gabino Lopez, who had seen frijol rienda in Central
America, as well as a non-climbing or running variety called "frijol
alacín" (Vigna spp.) which is interseeded into maize.
He asked for any further information on frijol alacín as he wishes
to try a denser seeding into the corn to promote more biomass. Milton
Flores responded that CIDICCO has information on frijol alacín.
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Last updated: March 12, 2003
by the Development Team