de Bie, Kees
4.3 Cropping patterns
Intercropping and grazing between the trees are common during the early years of
orchard establishment. In several orchards (10x) intercropping with annual crops
took place, viz. 6 times with pulses (mainly soybean) and 4 times with other crops.
The last group was related with relatively low mango yields and was confined to
relatively old orchards (Figure 5). For each orchard type, a co-variable was used
during model formulation.
6 T T T 40 T T
*
5r- - * *
v
e Le" 7
- 2
$ s due $
2 ©
= 2 35x 9 20r zi
5 I :
(T bos. uL. 4
or Lene ] |
l ] l " l
0 1 2 0 1 2
Intercropping method Intercropping method
Figure 5. Intercropping of annuals in orchards versus mango yields
and mango tree age.
0 = none, 1 = with pulses (mainly soybean), 2 7 other (maize,
tobacco, chilies, sweet potatoes, etc.)
4.4 Soil / Terrain characteristics
All sites were located on podzolic soils (Dystropepts and Paleustults) that dry
deeply during the dry season (DLD 1976). The texture of the topsoil was estimated
by the “texture-by-feel” method (Thien 1979). Table 2 shows that texture classes
and land units are related (Pearson Chi? Probability of 1.7%). Figure 6** shows
that yields were relatively low on terraces and on hills with loamy sand topsoils.
ANOVA showed both relations to be not significant. Soils with SCL topsoils
received relatively often a ‘poor’ Water Holding Capacity verdict (WHC),
Table 2. Count of orchards differentiated by terrain type, texture of
the topsoil, and soil water-holding capacity (WHC)
texture: SC SCL LS All
WHC: | poor | other | All | poor | other| All | poor | other| All poor |other
Hill 2 2 4 3.1 2 5 1 4 5 6 | 8
Footslope 0 5 5 4 |.10 | 14 | O 1 1 4 | 16
Terrace 2 5 7 1 2 3 0 1 1 3 8
All 4 | 12 8 | 14 1 6
Assessed by the farmer as 'poor' if the sub-soil dried within days after a rain shower and as 'good'
if this took around one week (intermediate values did not occur).
328
International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Vol. XXXIII, Part B7. Amsterdam 2000.
