Assessing the Medium to Long-Term Impacts of Sustainable Intensification Technologies on Crop Productivity

Integrating more grain legumes as intercrops or rotational system can allow farmers to achieve high and stable yield under varying rainfall, with modest fertilizer investments. This is critical for resource poor farmers who have limited access to mineral fertilizers. In these experiments that were initiated in 2012, we investigate soil organic carbon (SOC) changes over time for treatments that range from an unfertilized control, maize fertilized with NP optimally every year and when legumes are integrated as intercrops or rotations with maize. Recently we have applied stability analysis to assess impacts of grain legume integration on maize grain yield, yield stability, nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and ability to meet household protein requirements. More details on these experiments are outlined in the publications Smith et al. 2016 , Snapp et al. 2018 , and Chimonyo et al. 2019 .将更多粮用豆科作物纳入间作或轮作体系，可帮助农户在降雨波动条件下实现高产稳产，同时仅需适度的肥料投入。这对于难以获取矿质肥料的资源匮乏农户而言至关重要。本实验于2012年启动，旨在探究不同种植处理下土壤有机碳（soil organic carbon, SOC）随时间的变化情况，处理组涵盖不施肥对照组、每年按最佳氮磷（NP）配施方案施肥的玉米单作组，以及豆科作物与玉米间作或轮作的种植组。近期，我们通过稳定性分析评估了粮用豆科作物套种/轮作对玉米籽粒产量、产量稳定性、氮肥利用效率（nitrogen use efficiency, NUE）以及满足农户家庭蛋白质需求能力的影响。有关本实验的更多细节已在Smith等人2016年、Snapp等人2018年及Chimonyo等人2019年的发表文献中详述。