Monitoring of soil moisture regime and water use efficiency under maize cowpea cropping system

2014

English

Soil water is a critical component in agricultural production systems for optimization of grain yields. Soil water performs a number of important functions in soils. It is essential for mineral weathering and organic matter decay, chemical reactions that provide soluble nutrients in the plant-soil system. Water also serves as the medium in which nutrients move to plant roots. The retention of rain or irrigation water for direct plant use is another primary function of soil. Maize and cowpea were planted as sole crops and as intercrop before the soil moisture sensor of depths 30cm, 60cm and 90cm were installed on the nine plots. The design was a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) and was replicated three times. The soil moisture was monitored during the growing seasons. The intercrop recorded the highest water use efficiency followed by the maize sole crop and lastly the cowpea sole crop. Since water does not settle in one horizon of the soil but moves further into the soil, much water was retained at the 60cm and 90cm depth than at the 30cm depth. This resulted in the increase of water usage at the 30cm and 60cm depth than at the 90cm.

Ofori, E.; Oteng-Darko, P.; Berchie, J. N.; Nimako, F.O.; Yeboah, S.; Owusu Danquah, E.