International Journal of Soil Science and Agronomy (IJSSA), ISSN : 1725-3497, Vol. 8(1), pp. 239-249, March, 2021.  © Advanced Scholars  Journals

Full length Research paper

Soil mycorrhizal potential and carbon sequestration in an agroforestry fallow grassland type : "Cropping in plates under Green Mat", in Kisangani (DR Congo)

 Pyame MLD¹ *, Mukandama NJ-P¹, Haesaert G² and Baert G²

*¹Faculté de Gestion de RessourcesNaturelles, Université de Kisangani, BP 2012, Kisangani, RD Congo

²University of Gand, Belgium

*Correspondingauthor’sEmail:[email protected] 

Accepted 9^th Febuary , 2021

Abstract

An experiment was carried out in Kisangani (DR Congo) to examine, faced with the Slash-and-burn system, to what extent and what degree the system of "cropping in Plates under Green Mat" would favorably affect the mycorrhizal potential of the soil as well as the agroecosystem carbon stock and sink. A device plan with 5 completely randomized blocks, divided into 2 plots each, was chosen to test the factor "production system" (single-factor ANOVA x Duncan's test) ".  It emerges from this study the following performance points :

ü   A marked improvement in the density of mycorrhizal propagates, rhizobial nodules and aerobic microbial germs (15.2 vs 1.3 /g soil, 43.9 vs 21.3 /kg soil and 163.4x10⁶ vs 45.7x10⁶ /g soil, respectively);

ü   A marked improvement in the stable carbon stocks and sinks of agroecosystems up to 30 cm of soil depth (67.8 vs 14.5 t/ha and 20.3 vs 1.8 t /ha/year);

ü   An improvement in the efficiency of rainwater recovery by 4 times (62.2 vs 16.2 kgMS / mm rain) and in the efficiency of fertilizers recovery by 18 times (529 vs 29.3 kgMS /kg of fertilizer).

This places Cropping on Plates under Green Mat among the most efficient technologies of Conservation Agriculture (Agro-ecology) and thus strengthens ecological and social resilience.

Key words: Mycorhizal potential, C Sequestration, Agroforestry, Depleted Ferralsol, Green Mat, Slash-and-Burn