BRIEF FOCUS: Cowpea living mulch for food security and soil health

Intercropping cowpea as a living mulch with maize improves food security and dietary diversity. It also conserves soil moisture, adds soil nitrogen, and suppresses weed growth. 

This four-page brief, prepared by Nurdeen Abdul Rahman, Fred Kizito and Irmgard Hoeschle-Zeledon of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), is part of Africa RISING’s series of information briefs (#BRIEF FOCUS). It summarizes key facts about the benefits of intercropping cowpea with maize as a living mulch. It is based on Africa RISING experiences of validating the technology with farmers in northern Ghana over the past eight years. Inspired by the medicine labels you will typically find enclosed in over-the-counter medicine dispensed at pharmacies around the world, this brief gives just the right dosage of information needed to treat your farm!

Cowpea-living-mulch_Pr4Final_WEB

PDF copy? You can download it here: https://hdl.handle.net/10568/113714

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