Weed Responses to Agroecological Practices in Sorghum-Cowpea Intercropping Systems in the Sudano-Sahelian Zone of Burkina Faso

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Résumé

This study investigates how agroecological practices such as ridge tillage and
organic fertilization, influence weed species richness and development within
sorghum-cowpea intercropping systems in the Sudano-Sahelian zone of Burkina
Faso. A split-split plot field experiment conducted over two cropping seasons
evaluated weed species richness, ground cover, and biomass under three tillage
methods, four cropping systems, and four fertilization treatments. Data
analyses were performed in R program using canonical correspondence analysis,
permutational multivariate analysis of variance, IndVal method and generalized
linear models. Results indicated that ridge tillage maintains the highest
characteristic species richness (three species) but achieves the greatest reduction
in weed biomass and ground cover. Indeed, ridge tillage showed the
greatest reduction in weed biomass (17.59 ± 13.70 g.m−2), decreasing weed biomass
by 34% relative to conventional tillage and 33% relative to no-tillage.
Additionally, mineral fertilization alone resulted in the highest weed ground
cover representing increases of 35% compared to the unfertilized control and
18% compared to compost alone. Compost-based fertilization mitigated weed
proliferation, demonstrating lower ground cover values. These results support
the adoption of ridge tillage and organic fertilization as integrated weed management
strategies, aligning with agroecological principles to enhance sustainability
and resilience in West African smallholder farming systems.

Mots-clés

Agroecology, Biodiversity, Sustainable Farming Systems, Weed Management, West Africa