Dry Matter Production, Nutrient Cycled and Removed, and Soil Fertility Changes in Yam-Based Cropping Systems with Herbaceous Legumes in the Guinea-Sudan Zone of Benin

Table 5

Dry matter (t ha⁻¹) of plant parts returned to the soil significantly increased according to four cropping systems (A. histrix/maize intercropping-yam rotation; M. pruriens/maize intercropping-yam rotation; 1-year fallow of Andropogon gayanus-yam rotation; maize-yam rotation) during the 2002 and 2004 cropping seasons in four villages in Benin.

Cropping system	Cropping season 2002	Cropping season 2004
	DM (t ha^−1)	DM (t ha^−1)
T0	4.1	3.9
TM	3.5	3.2
TMA	9.2	8.3
TMM	9.7	8.8

Means with the same letter within row are not significantly different ().
T0 (control 1): one-year fallow-yam rotation; TM (control 2): maize-yam rotation; TMA: A. histrix/maize intercropping-yam rotation; TMM: M. pruriens/maize intercropping-yam rotation; DM: dry matter.