Abstract
Field trials were designed to investigate the effect of leguminous cover crops and bush fallow on maize yield and stem borer attacks with particular reference to Busseola fusca (Fuller) (Lep.: Noctuidae). Maize alternate cropping was compared with a mucuna-maize, cajanus-maize and bush fallow-maize cropping sequences. Total N content in the 0–10 cm layers of the soil was 26.0–29.2% higher after mucuna and cajanus fallows than after continuous maize production. Total N in plant dry matter increased with the availability of N in the soil and was significantly positively correlated with the plant height. Borer-days were 40–46% higher after mucuna and cajanus fallows than after maize continuous cropping whereas larval mortality at 63 days after planting (DAP) was 1.5–2.0 times higher in both leguminous fallows than in the continuous maize systems. As results, the percent of stem tunnelled did not vary significantly among treatments. The average yield loss due to borers was five times higher in the maize-maize sequence as compared to both cover crop-maize sequences, when comparing between control and insecticide-treated plants, suggesting that increased nutritional status of the plant enhanced both borer fitness and plant vigour but with a net-benefit for the plant.
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Chabi-Olaye, A., Nolte, C., Schulthess, F., Borgemeister, C. (2007). Short-term effects of cover crops on stem borers and maize yield in the humid forest of southern Cameroon. In: Bationo, A., Waswa, B., Kihara, J., Kimetu, J. (eds) Advances in Integrated Soil Fertility Management in sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges and Opportunities. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5760-1_17
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5760-1_17
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