Seasonal soil nitrogen dynamics affect yields of lowland rice in the savanna zone of West Africa

Background : Rice production in low‐input systems of West Africa relies largely on nitrogen supply from the soil. Especially in the dry savanna agro‐ecological zone, soil organic N is mineralized during the transition period between the dry and the wet seasons. In addition, in the inland valley landscape, soil N that is mineralized on slopes may be translocated as nitrate into the lowlands. There, both in‐situ mineralized as well as the laterally translocated nitrate‐N will be exposed to anaerobic conditions and is thus prone to losses. Aim : We determined the dynamics of soil NO 3 ‐N along a valley toposequence during the dry‐to‐wet season transition period and the effects of soil N‐conserving production strategies on the grain yield of rainfed lowland rice grown during the subsequent wet season. Methods : Field experiments in Dano (Burkina Faso) assessed during two consecutive years the temporal dynamics and spatial fluxes of soil nitrate along a toposequence. We applied sequential and depth‐stratified soil nitrate analysis and nitrate absorption in ion exchange resin capsules in lowlands that were open to subsurface interflow and in those where the interflow from the was intercepted. During one year only we also assessed the effect of pre‐rice vegetation on conserving this NO 3 ‐N as well as on N addition by biological N 2 fixation in legumes using δ 15 N isotope dilution. Finally, we determined the impact of soil N fluxes and their differential management during the transition season on growth, yield and N use of rainfed lowland rice. Results : Following the first rainfall event of the season, soil NO 3 ‐N initially accumulated and subsequently decreased gradually in the soil of the valley slope. Much of this nitrate N was translocated by lateral sub‐surface flow into the valley bottom wetland. There, pre‐rice vegetation was able to absorb much of the in‐situ mineralized and the laterally‐translocated soil NO 3 ‐N, reducing its accumulation in the soil from 40–43 kg N ha −1 under a bare fallow to 1–23 kg N ha −1 in soils covered by vegetation. Nitrogen accumulation in the biomass of the transition season crops ranged from 44 to 79 kg N ha −1 with a 36–39% contribution from biological N 2 fixation in the case of legumes. Rice agronomic performance improved following the incorporation as green manure of this “nitrate catching” vegetation, with yields increasing up to 3.5 t ha −1 with N 2 ‐fixing transition seasons crops. Conclusion : Thus, integrating transition season legumes during the pre‐rice cropping niche in the prevailing low‐input systems in inland valleys of the dry savanna zone of West Africa can temporarily conserve substantial amounts of soil NO 3 ‐N. It can also add biologically‐fixed N, thus contributing to increase rice yields in the short‐term and, in the long‐term, possibly maintaining or improving soil fertility in the lowland.