Tatang Tadjufo A.¹, Beyegue Djonko H.¹, Mvondo-Awono J.P.^2,

Cultivation of wheat can be extended to non-traditional growing areas through the use of adapted cultivars and relevant crop management practices such as Direct seeding Mulch-based Cropping systems (DMC). DMC are based on the production of high cover crops biomasses in previous agricultural campaigns followed by subsequent crops of interest. This study aimed to assess the biomass production of Brachiaria ruziziensis, and Crotalaria juncea, in the first agricultural campaign followed by the residual effects of mulch and nitrogenous mineral fertilization on the growth and yield parameters of two subsequent wheat varieties on an andic Ferrasol of the Western Highlands of Cameroon, during the second part of the growing season.Trials were conducted at the Teaching and Research Farm of the University of Dschang in Bansoa in West Cameroon. During the first campaign, biomass production of the two cover crops was assessed in a completely randomized block design with four replicates. This layout was transformed into a split-split-plot design in the second campaign with the mulch of the previous cover crop in main plots, two varieties of wheat in subplots and two levels of nitrogenous mineral fertilization in sub subplots. The amounts of dry matter produced by B. ruziziensis and C. juncea, were 12.6 and 8.2 t DM ha^-1, respectively. The wheat grain yield varied from 1.41 to 3.89 t ha^-1 during the subsequent agricultural campaign. The effect of preceding crop was significant for plant height, number of spikes, straw and grain yield production. The increase of the number of tillers and spikes due to nitrogen fertilizer application was 20% and 19%, respectively. Results obtained in this exploratory study suggest that wheat can be grown successfully in the Western Highlands of Cameroon under DMC. Further trials involving larger number of varieties, wider range of fertilizer rates and economic assessment would determine the most suitable combinations of factors.

wheat, direct seeding mulch-based cropping system (DMC), cover crops, Brachiaria ruziziensis, Crotalaria juncea, residual effects, wheat fertilization