Abstract
Agroecology is considered effective at improving soil fertility and crop yields. However, its effectiveness in increasing maize productivity within Ghana’s semi-deciduous forest zone remains insufficiently validated by empirical evidence. This knowledge gap is important, especially in the context of persistent soil fertility degradation and declining maize yields across the region. Thus, the present study evaluated the effects of agroecological practices, namely, mulching, reduced tillage, crop rotation and relay cropping, on soil nitrogen availability and maize yield in the semi-deciduous forest zone during the 2023 and 2024 cropping seasons. Agroecological practices significantly (p < 0.001) affected soil ammonium concentration (NH4+-N) (44%), microbial biomass carbon (MBC) (38%), soil organic carbon (SOC) (42%), total nitrogen (TN) (22%) and nitrate (NO3− -N) concentration (18%). Compared to the reference farm, reduced tillage and mulching consistently resulted in improved biomass yield (>95%) and maize grain yield (>90%) across the three cropping seasons. Maize grain yield exhibited a strong positive and significant correlation with soil NH4+-N (p < 0.05, r = 0.90), SOC (p < 0.001, r = 0.89), TN (p < 0.01, r = 0.8) and MBC (p < 0.05, r = 0.89) concentrations. Reduced tillage and mulching could enhance soil and crop productivity in deciduous maize-cropping systems.
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Claims 15
Claim · model-written summary
Agroecological practices significantly affected soil ammonium by 44%.
Zea maysNot reportedComparatorDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Agroecological practices significantly (p < 0.001) affected soil ammonium concentration (NH4+-N) (44%)”
t0“maize”
Claim · model-written summary
Agroecological practices significantly affected microbial biomass carbon by 38%.
Not reportedComparatorDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“microbial biomass carbon (MBC) (38%)”
t0“maize”
t1“Agroecological practices”
Claim · model-written summary
Agroecological practices significantly affected soil organic carbon by 42%.
Not reportedComparatorDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“soil organic carbon (SOC) (42%)”
t0“maize”
t1“Agroecological practices”
Claim · model-written summary
Agroecological practices significantly affected total nitrogen by 22%.
Not reportedComparatorDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“total nitrogen (TN) (22%)”
t0“maize”
t1“Agroecological practices”
Claim · model-written summary
Agroecological practices significantly affected nitrate by 18%.
Not reportedComparatorDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“nitrate (NO3− -N) concentration (18%)”
t0“maize”
t1“Agroecological practices”
Claim · model-written summary
Reduced tillage improved maize biomass yield by over 95% versus reference farm.
- Treatment
- reduced tillagee0
- Outcome
- biomass yielde0
- Direction
- improvede0
- Value
- >95%e0
- Comparator
- reference farme0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Compared to the reference farm, reduced tillage and mulching consistently resulted in improved biomass yield (>95%) and maize grain yield (>90%) across the three cropping seasons”
Claim · model-written summary
Mulching improved maize biomass yield by over 95% versus reference farm.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Compared to the reference farm, reduced tillage and mulching consistently resulted in improved biomass yield (>95%) and maize grain yield (>90%) across the three cropping seasons”
Claim · model-written summary
Reduced tillage improved maize grain yield by over 90% versus reference farm.
- Treatment
- reduced tillagee0
- Outcome
- maize grain yielde0
- Direction
- improvede0
- Value
- >90%e0
- Comparator
- reference farme0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Compared to the reference farm, reduced tillage and mulching consistently resulted in improved biomass yield (>95%) and maize grain yield (>90%) across the three cropping seasons”
Claim · model-written summary
Mulching improved maize grain yield by over 90% versus reference farm.
- Treatment
- mulchinge0
- Outcome
- maize grain yielde0
- Direction
- improvede0
- Value
- >90%e0
- Comparator
- reference farme0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Compared to the reference farm, reduced tillage and mulching consistently resulted in improved biomass yield (>95%) and maize grain yield (>90%) across the three cropping seasons”
Claim · model-written summary
Maize grain yield correlated positively with soil ammonium (r = 0.90).
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Maize grain yield exhibited a strong positive and significant correlation with soil NH4+-N (p < 0.05, r = 0.90)”
Claim · model-written summary
Maize grain yield correlated positively with soil organic carbon (r = 0.89).
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Maize grain yield exhibited a strong positive and significant correlation with soil NH4+-N (p < 0.05, r = 0.90), SOC (p < 0.001, r = 0.89)”
Claim · model-written summary
Maize grain yield correlated positively with total nitrogen (r = 0.8).
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Maize grain yield exhibited a strong positive and significant correlation with soil NH4+-N (p < 0.05, r = 0.90), SOC (p < 0.001, r = 0.89), TN (p < 0.01, r = 0.8)”
Claim · model-written summary
Maize grain yield correlated positively with microbial biomass carbon (r = 0.89).
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Maize grain yield exhibited a strong positive and significant correlation with soil NH4+-N (p < 0.05, r = 0.90), SOC (p < 0.001, r = 0.89), TN (p < 0.01, r = 0.8) and MBC (p < 0.05, r = 0.89) concentrations”
Claim · model-written summary
Reduced tillage could enhance soil and crop productivity in maize cropping systems.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Reduced tillage and mulching could enhance soil and crop productivity in deciduous maize-cropping systems”
Claim · model-written summary
Mulching could enhance soil and crop productivity in maize cropping systems.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Reduced tillage and mulching could enhance soil and crop productivity in deciduous maize-cropping systems”
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See all 364 papers →tillage · yield · Zea mays (maize)Positive and negative results
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See all 1,099 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.