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

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.

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Optimizing Soil Fertility Management Strategies to Enhance Banana Production in Volcanic Soils of the Northern Highlands, Tanzania

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy10020289 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 289 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Akida I. Meya ◽

Patrick A. Ndakidemi ◽

Kelvin M. Mtei ◽

Rony Swennen ◽

Roel Merckx

Keyword(s):

Soil Fertility ◽

Management Strategies ◽

Farming Systems ◽

Animal Manure ◽

Cattle Manure ◽

Organic N ◽

Mineral Fertilizers ◽

Soil Fertility Management ◽

Fertility Management ◽

N Dose

Banana is an important crop in high altitude areas of Tanzania, grown widely both as a food staple and as the main source of income. However, its production is constrained by low soil fertility, a result of gradual nutrient mining by the crop. Currently, soil fertility management in banana-based farming systems in the country relies mainly on applications of animal manure. However, the amount of manure produced in most farms is not enough to replenish soil fertility due to the small number of animals kept by smallholder resource-poor farmers who are the major producers in the country. Field experiments were conducted at three sites with varying soil types and contrasting weather conditions along the altitudinal gradients on the slopes of the volcanic mountains of Kilimanjaro and Meru, northern Tanzania to (1) investigate the effect of mineral nitrogen (mineral N) fertilizer applications on the growth and yield of Mchare banana (Musa spp., AA, a traditional East African highland cooking banana sub-group), at the four levels of 0, 77, 153, and 230 kg N ha−1 year−1 as a starter strategy to improve the current soil fertility management strategies, and (2) evaluate the effect of the combined use of inorganic and organic N sources on growth and banana fruit production as an alternative strategy to manage soil fertility and minimize animal manure requirements. The treatment factors were trial sites (Tarakea, Lyamungo, and Tengeru) as the main factor and N fertilization strategies (as urea alone, sole cattle manure, and in combination with urea, sole common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) haulms as well as in combination with urea) as a sub factor. Bean haulms and cattle manure were applied each year for two years. Fertilization at 153 kg N ha−1 year−1 derived solely from urea significantly (p < 0.001) resulted in high yield increment of up to 42% relative to the control. However, the increase was highest (52%) with the same N dose derived from cattle manure in combination with urea at 50% substitution. Sole bean haulms resulted in a smaller yield increment, the same as the lowest N dose from the sole urea fertilization treatment. The study concludes that soil fertility management in smallholder banana-based farming systems should not solely rely on animal manure and mineral fertilizers.

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