Agricultural practices, soil fertility management modes and resultant nitrogen leaching rates under semi-arid conditions

1999 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Hadas ◽  
Aviva Hadas ◽  
B Sagiv ◽  
Nava Haruvy
2021 ◽  
Vol 270 ◽  
pp. 108218
Author(s):  
Vengai Mbanyele ◽  
Florence Mtambanengwe ◽  
Hatirarami Nezomba ◽  
Jeroen C.J. Groot ◽  
Paul Mapfumo

2014 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.P. Fernández-Getino ◽  
J.L. Tenorio ◽  
M.I. Santín-Montanyá

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 664-678
Author(s):  
Souleïmane A. Adekambi ◽  
Jean Eudes A. Codjovi ◽  
Jacob A. Yabi

La baisse du niveau de fertilité des terres cultivables du fait des pratiques agricoles inadaptées, de la déforestation et du changement climatique reste l’une des contraintes majeures de l’agriculture béninoise. Les mesures de Gestion Intégrée de la Fertilité des Sols (GIFS) en sont une des approches de gestion durales des terres à l’échelle des exploitations agricoles. Ainsi, l’étude a fait usage d’un modèle probit multivarié pour identifier les déterminants de l’adoption des mesures de GIFS au sein des exploitations agricoles productrices de maïs au Nord-Bénin. Elle a été conduite sur un échantillon de 100 producteurs de maïs sélectionnés suivant un sondage aléatoire stratifié. Les résultats ont révélé l’existence d’une interdépendance et de complémentarités dans l’adoption des différentes mesures de GIFS. Aussi, la majorité des producteurs de maïs enquêtés préfèrent adopter une combinaison de deux mesures de GIFS (32%) ou de trois mesures (26%). Par ailleurs, la distance du village au champ, l’appartenance à un groupement, le contact avec la vulgarisation, la superficie  emblavée en maïs, la taille du cheptel et le nombre d’actifs agricoles restent les principaux facteurs déterminants l’adoption de ces mesures de GIFS par les producteurs.Mots clés : Bénin, changement climatique, gestion durable des terres, Gestion Intégrée de la Fertilité des Sols, pratiques agricoles, probit multivarié. English title: Adoption of integrated soil fertility management measures in northern Benin: an application of the multivariate probit model to the case of maize producers The decline in the level of fertility of arable land due to unsuitable agricultural practices, deforestation and climate change remains one of the major constraints of agriculture in Benin. Integrated Soil Fertility Management measures (GIFS) are one of the sustainable land management approaches that have been promoted at the level of farmers’ communities. Thus, the study made use of a multivariate probit model to identify the determinants of the adoption of GIFS measures within maize-producing farms in North Benin. It was carried out on a sample of 100 maize farmers selected following a stratified random survey. The results revealed the existence of interdependence and complementarities in the adoption of different GIFS measures. The majority of maize producers surveyed prefer to adopt a combination of two (32%) or three GIFS measures (26%). In addition, the distance from the village to the field, the membership of a group, the contact with the extension service, the area sown with maize, the size of the herd and the number of agricultural workers were identified as the important factors determining the adoption of these GIFS methods by producers.Keywords: Benin, climate change, sustainable land management, Integrated Soil Fertility Management measures, agricultural practices, multivariate probit.


2002 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Harris

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.


2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 485-497 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Tittarelli ◽  
F.G. Ceglie ◽  
C. Ciaccia ◽  
G. Mimiola ◽  
M.L. Amodio ◽  
...  

AbstractIn Europe, the lack of specific rules regulating organic vegetable production in protected conditions has led to the implementation of extremely diversified systems of production, at different level of intensification. In this study, we compared three strawberry organic production systems based on the following main criteria of soil fertility management: input substitution (SB), a simplified system of organic production that mimics conventional agricultural practices and two systems characterized by a more complex soil fertility management, based on the introduction, in the rotation of agroecological service crops (ASCs) and compost (AC), and of ASCs and cattle manure (AM). Strawberry yields, in the compared systems, were not significantly different in both years of our research, while, as a whole, the yield in 2013 (30.3 Mg ha−1) was significantly higher than in 2014 (28.9 Mg ha−1). Crop nitrogen (N) needs, during the entire cycle of production, were satisfied according to the same pattern by SB, AC and AM, while green manuring and organic amendments in AM and AC determined a higher soil organic N content, compared with SB. As far as the production quality is concerned, both AM and AC treatments yielded strawberry fruits similar to SB, but with better characteristics in terms of color and phenolic content. AM and AC did not differentiate statistically in the two year period of our research.


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