ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on changes in soil carbon (C) during the period of the experiment in relation to residue biomass C returned to the soil, runoff and soil erosion losses, and loss of C with erosion. The benefits of legume-based cover crops in Africa as an alternative to natural fallow, to control weeds and soil erosion, and enrich soil organic matter and nitrogen are widely recognized. The effect of relay-cropping maize through Mucuna pruriens was assessed in southern Benin from 1988 to 1999 in terms of plant productivity and soil fertility. The experiment was conducted from 1988 to 1999 at an experimental farm at Agonkanmey, near Cotonou in southern Benin in an area of low plateaus. Most of the land is cultivated to maize, beans, cassava, or peanuts, often associated with oil palm. The amount of dry coarse sediments was deduced by weighing wet coarse sediments collected in the first tank, and oven-drying the aliquots.
