PLANT YIELDS AND FODDER QUALITY RELATED CHARACTERISTICS OF MILLET-STYLO INTERCROPPING SYSTEMS IN THE SAHEL

The integration of forage legumes into the low-input, cereal-based far ming system of the Sahel may be the key to sustaining soil, crop, and livestock production. The objectives of this study were to evaluate th e effects of intercropping the forage legumes Stylosanthes fruticosa ( Retz.) Alston or S. hamata (L.) Taub. with millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] on grain yield, fodder yield, and crude protein (CP) yiel d and concentration. Four field trials were conducted on a Psammentic Paleustalf (siliceous, isohyperthermic) soil from 1988 to 1990 at Sado re, Niger. Each Stylosanthes species was grown in alternate single and triple row patterns with millet for 1 and 2 yr, with stylo regrowing from stubble during the second year. Control treatments were sole crop s of millet and stylo. Intercropping either Stylosanthes species with millet for 1 yr in alternate single rows did not affect millet grain y ield, because of low stylo competition. Total dry matter (DM) harveste d of intercrop was similar to that of sole millet, while CP concentrat ion of total DM increased moderately from 43 g kg-1 in sole millet cro p to 75 g kg-1 in intercrop. During the second year of association, st ylo was very competitive, depressing intercropped millet grain by an a verage of 67% in 1989 and 48% in 1990 compared with sole millet grain yield. Total DM and CP yields, and CP concentration of the harvested f odder were, respectively, 1.4, 3.0, and 2.3 times greater in intercrop than sole millet. Millet-stylo intercrops, with each species planted at half its sole crop density, appear to have an advantage in fodder y ield and CP over sole millet cropping but not in total grain yield.