scholarly journals Impact of Alternative Soil Fertility Management Options on Maize Productivity in Malawi’s Smallholder Farming System

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hardwick Tchale ◽  
Johannes Sauer ◽  
Peter Wobst
Keyword(s):  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Farming System ◽  
Soil Fertility Management ◽  
Smallholder Farming ◽  
Management Options ◽  
Maize Productivity ◽  
Fertility Management

Soil fertility management effects on maize productivity and grain zinc content in smallholder farming systems of Zimbabwe

2012 ◽  
Vol 361 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 57-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grace M. Manzeke ◽  
Paul Mapfumo ◽  
Florence Mtambanengwe ◽  
Regis Chikowo ◽  
Takesure Tendayi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Zinc Content ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Soil Fertility Management ◽  
Smallholder Farming ◽  
Maize Productivity ◽  
Fertility Management ◽  
Smallholder Farming Systems ◽  
Grain Zinc ◽  
Management Effects

SEQUENCING INTEGRATED SOIL FERTILITY MANAGEMENT OPTIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE CROP INTENSIFICATION BY DIFFERENT CATEGORIES OF SMALLHOLDER FARMERS IN ZIMBABWE

2014 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. NEZOMBA ◽  
F. MTAMBANENGWE ◽  
R. CHIKOWO ◽  
P. MAPFUMO
Keyword(s):  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Mineral Fertilizers ◽  
Soil Productivity ◽  
Soil Fertility Management ◽  
Management Options ◽  
Integrated Soil Fertility Management ◽  
Fertility Management ◽  
Maize Grain

SUMMARYResearch has proved that integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) can increase crop yields at the field and farm scales. However, its uptake by smallholder farmers in Africa is often constrained by lack of technical guidelines on effective starting points and how the different ISFM options can be combined to increase crop productivity on a sustainable basis. A 4-year study was conducted on sandy soils (<10% clay) on smallholder farms in eastern Zimbabwe to assess how sequencing of different ISFM options may lead to incremental gains in soil productivity, enhanced efficiency of resource use, and increase crop yields at field scale. The sequences were primarily based on low-quality organic resources, nitrogen-fixing green manure and grain legumes, and mineral fertilizers. To enable comparison of legume and maize grain yields among treatments, yields were converted to energy (kilocalories) and protein (kg) equivalents. In the first year, ‘Manure-start’, a cattle manure-based sequence, yielded 3.4 t ha−1of maize grain compared with 2.5 and 0.4 t ha−1under a woodland litter-based sequence (‘Litter-start’) and continuous unfertilized maize control, respectively. The ‘Manure-start’ produced 12 × 106kilocalories (kcal); significantly (p< 0.05) out-yielding ‘Litter start’ and a fertilizer-based sequence (‘Fertilizer-start’) by 50%. A soyabean-based sequence, ‘Soya-start’, gave the highest protein production of 720 kg against <450 kg for the other sequencing treatments. In the second year, the sequences yielded an average of 5.7 t ha−1of maize grain, producing over 19 × 106kcal and 400 kg of protein. Consequently, the sequences significantly out-performed farmers’ designated poor fields by ~ fivefold. In the third year, ‘Soya-start’ gave the highest maize grain yield of 3.7 t ha−1; translating to 1.5 and 3 times more calories than under farmers’ designated rich and poor fields, respectively. In the fourth year, ‘Fertilizer-start’ produced the highest calories and protein of 14 × 106kcal and 340 kg, respectively. Cumulatively over 4 years, ‘Manure-start’ and ‘Soya-start’ gave the highest calories and protein, out-performing farmers’ designated rich and poor fields. Sunnhemp (Crotalaria junceaL.)-based sequences, ‘Green-start’ and ‘Fertilizer-start’, recorded the highest gains in plant available soil P of ~ 4 mg kg−1over the 4-year period. Assessment of P agronomic efficiencies showed significantly more benefits under the ISFM-based sequences than under farmers’ designated rich and poor fields. Based on costs of seed, nutrients and labour, ‘Soya-start’ gave the best net present value over the 4 years, while ‘Fertilizer-start’ was financially the least attractive. Overall, the ISFM-based sequences were more profitable than fields designated as rich and poor by farmers. We concluded that ISFM-based sequences can provide options for farm-level intensification by different categories of smallholder farmers in Southern Africa.

scholarly journals Alternative Soil Fertility Management Options in Malawi: An Economic Analysis

2007 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 29-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Sauer ◽  
Hardwick Tchale ◽  
Peter Wobst
Keyword(s):  
Economic Analysis ◽  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Soil Fertility Management ◽  
Management Options ◽  
Fertility Management

scholarly journals Improvement of sorghum productivity through introducing integrated soil fertility management options in the Northern Sudanian zone of Burkina Faso

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. 3262-3274
Author(s):  
Jean Ouedraogo ◽  
Idriss Serme ◽  
Mathias Bouinzemwendé Pouya ◽  
Sogo Bassirou Sanon ◽  
Korodjouma Ouattara ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Soil Fertility Management ◽  
Management Options ◽  
Integrated Soil Fertility Management ◽  
Fertility Management ◽  
Gestion Intégrée ◽  
Yield Gaps ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Changements Climatiques ◽  
Sudanian Zone

Agricultural intensification is a necessity to ensure food security in the Sahel countries. This study aimed at assessing the effects of technological packages of integrated soil fertility management on sorghum productivity. An experiment was set up in dispersed blocks design where each producer constituted a repetition. Fertilizers were applied using the microdose technique. The results showed that the best grain yields of sorghum are obtained with the technology combining stone bunds + zaï + NPK + urea with respectively 1428.70 kg / ha in 2018 and 1158.40 kg / ha in 2019. The grain yield gaps between the current farmers’ practice under stone bunds and ISFM packages varied from 5.66% to 44.45% in 2018 and from 25.15% to 53.80% in 2019. In the context of climate variability and climate change, these results show that water harvesting techniques such as stone bunds and the zaï, associated with microdose are viable and sustainable alternative for improving agricultural productivity. L’intensification agricole est une nécessité pour assurer la sécurité alimentaire dans les pays du sahel. Cette étude avait pour objectif d’évaluer les effets de paquets technologiques de gestion intégrée de la fertilité des sols sur la productivité du sorgho. Pour ce faire, un dispositif en blocs dispersés a été mis en place en milieu paysan où chaque producteur constituait une répétition. Les paquets technologiques se composent des formules de fumures et/ou des techniques de conservation des eaux et des sols (CES). Les engrais ont été apportés selon la technique de la microdose. Les résultats ont montré que les meilleurs rendements grains du sorgho ont été obtenus avec la technologie cordons pierreux + zaï + NPK + urée avec respectivement 1428,70 kg/ha en 2018 et 1158,40 kg/ha en 2019. Les gaps de rendement grains entre la pratique actuelle des producteurs sous cordons pierreux et les paquets technologiques ont varié de 5,66% à 44,45% en 2018 et de 25,15% à 53,80% en 2019. Dans le contexte de la variabilité et des changements climatiques, ces résultats montrent que la collecte et la valorisation de l’eau à la parcelle à travers les cordons pierreux et le zaï, associée à la microdose est une alternative viable et durable d’amélioration de la productivité agricole.

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