Nematode infestation and N-effect of legumes on soil and crop yelds in legume-sorghum rotations

The effects of cowpea (Vignaunguiculata) and-groundnut (Arachis hypogea) on succeeding sorghum yields, soil mineral N and nematode infestationwere studied during five cropping seasons (2000 to 2004) in a weakly acid Ultisol of the agronomy research station of Farakô-Ba lo-cated in the Guinean zone of Burkina Faso, West Africa. A factorial 5x5 design of five crop rotations with five fertilizer treatments in a split-plot arrangement with four replications was used.Sorghum yields were affected by the two factors (rotation with legumes and fertilizer ap-plications) during the four years. But interactions were not observed between the two factors. Monocropping of sorghum produced the lowest yields and legume–sorghum rotations increased sorghum yields by50% to 300%. Ground-nut–sorghum and cowpea–sorghum rotations increased soil mineral N by36% and 52%, re-spectively. Crop rotation influenced nematode infestation but the effects on soil and sorghum root infestation differed according to the rotation. The cowpea–sorghum rotation increased soil and sorghum root infestationby nematodes while groundnut–sorghum decree-sed the nematode population. The soil of the cowpea-sorghum rotation contained 1.5 to 2 times more nematodes than the soil of the monocropping of sorghum. In contrast, the soil ofthe groundnut–sorghum rotation contained from 17 to 19 times fewernematodes than that of themonocropping of sorghum. However, nematode infestation did not affect any of the succeeding sorghum yields. It was concluded that the parasitic effect of nematodes was limited by the predominance of positive N-effects on the development of succeeding sorghum.