Benefits of integrated soil fertility and water management in semi-arid West Africa: an example study in Burkina Faso

2008 ◽  
Vol 88 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Zougmoré ◽  
Abdoulaye Mando ◽  
Leo Stroosnijder
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Burkina Faso ◽  
Arid West ◽  
Semi Arid

Effects of cowpea, crotalaria and sorghum crops and phosphorus fertilizers on maize productivity in semi-arid West Africa

1999 ◽  
Vol 132 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. MULEBA
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Burkina Faso ◽  
Green Manure ◽  
N Fertilization ◽  
Maize Crop ◽  
Maize Productivity ◽  
Preceding Crop ◽  
Natural Rock ◽  
Arid West ◽  
Semi Arid

Cowpea and sorghum grain crops, fertilized with 26 kg of phosphorus (P) per ha from either a P-soluble (SP) or a slightly P-soluble fertilizer (Kodjari, a natural rock phosphate (RP) indigenous to Burkina Faso), and cowpea and crotalaria (Crotalaria retusa) green manure crops, either unfertilized or fertilized with 26 kg P/ha from RP; were studied for their effects as preceding crop treatments for maize. The experiment was conducted in semi-arid West Africa (SAWA) at Farako-Bâ in Burkina Faso in 1983–86. Nitrogen (N) and soluble P fertilized and unfertilized subtreatments, applied to maize the following year, allowed the effects of the preceding crop treatments in improving soil fertility and the direct effects of P and N fertilizers applied to the maize crop to be assessed. Maize productivity was increased both by P fertilization and by soil improvements following cowpea and crotalaria; N fertilization in excess of 60 kg N/ha was not beneficial. Cowpea grain crop treatments, especially when fertilized with a P-soluble source, maximized maize yields, whereas cowpea and crotalaria green manure treatments were either similar to the cowpea grain treatment fertilized with RP or were intermediate between the latter and the sorghum treatment fertilized with SP. Sorghum, regardless of the source of P-fertilizer used, appeared not to be a suitable preceding crop for maize in SAWA.

Restoring Soil Fertility in Semi-Arid West Africa

2006 ◽  
pp. 391-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdoulaye Mando ◽  
Dougbedji Fatondji ◽  
Robert Zougmoré ◽  
Lijbert Brussaard ◽  
Charles Bielders ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Arid West ◽  
Semi Arid

MANAGEMENT OF MANURE IN FARMING SYSTEMS IN SEMI-ARID WEST AFRICA

2002 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Harris
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Manure Management ◽  
Soil Fertility Management ◽  
Fertility Management ◽  
Arid West ◽  
Semi Arid

The last 50 years have seen a rapid expansion of cultivated area in semi-arid areas of West Africa. This has precipitated a change from traditional fallowing to more pro-active soil fertility management techniques. Smallholder farmers employ a range of technologies to enhance soil fertility and manure is a cornerstone of many of the soil fertility management strategies they use. This paper reviews manure management by smallholder farmers. It considers factors that affect the quality of the manure used, including methods for keeping livestock and storing manure. The paper reviews the strategies, such as night parking and crop-livestock integration, which farmers employ to ensure that manure reaches their fields. The nutrient balances of two farming systems are presented as evidence for the importance of manure as a nutrient source. Rangeland-to-cropland nutrient transfers are contrasted with nutrient recycling through crop-livestock integration. The paper concludes that within the constraints in which smallholder farmers operate in semi-arid West Africa, manure will remain an important component of soil fertility management strategies for the foreseeable future. Integrated nutrient management strategies that take into consideration the circumstances of farmers, and the resources available to them, are the best way forward. Appropriate interventions need to focus on improving manure management to ensure that the material which farmers so laboriously prepare and transport is of the best possible quality.

Tillage and soil physical properties in semi-arid West Africa

1993 ◽  
Vol 27 (1-4) ◽  
pp. 125-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Nicou ◽  
C. Charreau ◽  
J.-L. Chopart
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Physical Properties ◽  
Soil Physical Properties ◽  
Arid West ◽  
Semi Arid

Sorghum and Groundnut Sole and Intercrop Nutrient Response in Semi-Arid West Africa

2017 ◽  
Vol 109 (6) ◽  
pp. 2907-2917 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Maman ◽  
M. K. Dicko ◽  
A. Gonda ◽  
C. S. Wortmann
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Nutrient Response ◽  
Arid West ◽  
Semi Arid
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