Sorghum Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench and cowpea Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp intercropping for crop-livestock integration in the Sudano-Sahelian area.

摘要

The northern area of Burkina Faso - with its seriously degraded natural resources - is characterized by a sorghum or millet and cowpea intercropping system with a feeble density of cowpea. This indigenous system is unfit to cope with forage shortage, food insecurity, and environment degradation. Participatory study using surveys and experiments on farmers' plots and ram-sheds has been implemented on the site of Ziga in the Sudano-Sahelian area. The results show that rational sorghum and cowpea intercropping can resolve the problem in this milieu. This improved mixed cropping system increased grain, straw and haulm yield up by more than 25% in comparison with indigenous practice. Farmers have shown an effective need to incorporate innovation in their activities, yet they are inhibited by organizational and material constraints. Strategies of ability enhancement and sensitizing using the forum theatre could be alternatives for the promotion of the technology in rural areas.