Hope MAZUNGUNYE
2023-2026
Ecole doctorale
University of Zimbabwe
Objectives
- Assess maize and cowpea productivity in monocropping and intercropping systems under ambient, reduced and heavy rainfall
- Quantify N2O emissions in monocropping and intercropping systems under ambient, reduced and heavy rainfall and understand drivers of emissions
- Assess the effect of intercropping on soil health (soil infiltrability, aggregate stability, POXC…)
Location
Zimbabwe
Description
The study will be done at a new on-station experiment established in October 2022 at the University of Zimbabwe Farm (UZF) (17°42'13.5"S 31°00'29.4"E).
Three main treatments repeated three times were established:
- Reduced rainfall (-30%)
- Normal rainfall
- Extreme rainfall events (100 mm/24h)
The reduced rainfall treatments are achieved with a rainfall exclusion system, with transparent gutters covering about 30% of the surface.
The extreme rainfall events are obtained with an irrigation system installed at the site. Several events per season are simulated, some after top dressing applications, others at critical phenological stages (grain filling…). The date of these events varies one year from another. The idea is to create events such as leaching, runoff or waterlogging.
Within these 3 rainfall treatments, 10 sub-treatments are tested in a split-plot design, half of them being related to intercropping with cowpea, a nitrogen-fixing crop.
Encadrement
Directeur de thèse : Regis Chikowo (University of Zimbabwe)
Co-directeur de thèse : Rémi Cardinael (CIRAD / Aïda)
Funding
Projet Horizon Europe IntercropValuES (https://intercropvalues.eu/)