Permanent Bed Width Has Little Effect on Crop Yield under Rainfed and Irrigated Conditions across Central Mexico

Abel Saldivia-Tejeda, Simon Fonteyne, Taiyu Guan and Nele Verhulst
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Abel Saldivia-Tejeda: International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Carretera Mexico-Veracruz km 45, Texcoco 56237, Mexico
Simon Fonteyne: International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Carretera Mexico-Veracruz km 45, Texcoco 56237, Mexico
Taiyu Guan: Department of Plant Science, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA
Nele Verhulst: International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Carretera Mexico-Veracruz km 45, Texcoco 56237, Mexico

Agriculture, 2021, vol. 11, issue 10, 1-12

Abstract: In Mexico, conservation agriculture has been mainly implemented using permanent beds, where the top of the raised beds is not tilled, which allows them to obtain the benefits of conservation agriculture for yield and soil quality. However, narrow (0.75–0.80 m width) and wide (1.50–1.60 m width) beds are commonly implemented without scientific evidence available as to whether the width of the beds affects crop yields. The objective of our study was therefore to evaluate two types of permanent beds, in maize ( Zea mays L.), wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.), and barley ( Hordeum vulgare L.) production, in various agro-ecological regions of Mexico. The study included nine sites, of which six were rainfed and three had irrigation. Bed width did not significantly affect crop yield. Therefore, farmers can choose the bed width that best meets their practical needs. Some practical considerations include mechanical weeding (more access in narrow beds), fuel use (lower for reshaping wide beds), irrigation water use (in wide beds similar to irrigating alternate furrows in narrow beds), and residue management (option to concentrate residue in windrows at center of wide beds). Soil texture can also affect this choice, because it affects water infiltration and retention.

Keywords: conservation agriculture; conservation tillage; permanent beds; corn; wheat; barley (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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