Impact of Agroecological Practices on Fertility of Hydromorphic Soils for Sweet Potato Cultivation in the South Sudanian Zone of Burkina Faso

Abstract

Aims: This study aims is to assess the effects of agroecological practices’ effects on soil chemical parameters in the irrigated area of the Tiébélé plain. Study Design: The cropping systems used can contribute to significant changes in the physical and biochemical properties of the soil. This study combined data collected on a developed plan and laboratory analyses. Place and Duration: The data was collected from producers' plots in the dry season (March-April) of 2022. Methodology: 24 farms were monitored during the cropping season 2021-2022, based on the existing practices: crop rotation on upland areas; vegetable growing - irrigated rice rotation; potato - irrigated rice rotation; irrigated rice - fallow rotation; short fallow; long fallow. In each plot, soil samples were taken from 0-20 cm depth for laboratory analysis. Results: The results show that the sweet potato - irrigated rice rotation leads to an increase in total carbon of 22.5% and 48.5% compared to the fallow - irrigated rice and vegetable - irrigated rice systems, respectively. This practice resulted in a 12.5% increase in total nitrogen compared to the irrigated rice - vegetable rotation. Compared to the irrigated rice - sweet potato rotation, the irrigated rice - vegetable rotation resulted in a 16% increase in pH. The vegetable - irrigated rice system resulted in a 269.05% increase in available phosphorus compared to the fallow - irrigated rice system. Compared to the sweet potato - irrigated rice rotation, the vegetable - irrigated rice rotation resulted in a 17.63% increase in cation exchange capacity and a 24.7% increase in the sum of exchangeable bases. Conclusion: The adopting of agroecological practices based on crop rotation improves soil fertility in irrigated rice production.