scholarly journals Pearl Millet and Sorghum Yield Response to Fertilizer in the Sahel of Burkina Faso

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Idriss Serme ◽  
Korodjouma Ouattara ◽  
Alimata Arzouma Bandaogo ◽  
Charles Wortmann

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) and pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.) were domesticated in Africa for human consumption and are often the dominant cereals in semi-arid areas where yield is constrained by soil water deficits, nutrient deficiencies, and other constraints. Research was conducted to quantify yield responses and profitability of sorghum and pearl millet produced in the Sahel of Burkina Faso to fertilizer N, P, K, and a Mg-S-Zn-B diagnostic treatment. Mean yields across trials were 1.2 and 0.9 Mg ha-1 for pearl millet and sorghum, respectively. The effects of N, K, the diagnostic treatment, and interactions were not significant for both pearl millet and sorghum. There was a mean curvilinear to plateau response to P for pearl millet and a linear response to P for sorghum. The economical optimal P rates for pearl millet were modest, ranging from 6 to 33 kg ha–1 at 100% of the rate to maximize net returns per ha to P application when the cost of using fertilizer P was high and low, respectively, relative to the grain price (Table 4). The application of P for pearl millet had high profit potential even with a high cost P use scenario. For sorghum production, P application was not profitable if the cost per kg of fertilizer P use exceeded the value of 9 kg of sorghum grain. The results, therefore, indicate a high and low profit potential for P applied for pearl millet and sorghum, respectively, in the Sahel of Burkina Faso.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 8460
Author(s):  
Armel Rouamba ◽  
Hussein Shimelis ◽  
Inoussa Drabo ◽  
Mark Laing ◽  
Prakash Gangashetty ◽  
...  

Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) is a staple food crop in Burkina Faso that is widely grown in the Sahelian and Sudano-Sahelian zones, characterised by poor soil conditions and erratic rainfall, and high temperatures. The objective of this study was to document farmers’ perceptions of the prevailing constraints affecting pearl millet production and related approaches to manage the parasitic weeds S. hermonthica. The study was conducted in the Sahel, Sudano-Sahelian zones in the North, North Central, West Central, Central Plateau, and South Central of Burkina Faso. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire and focus group discussions involving 492 participant farmers. Recurrent drought, S. hermonthica infestation, shortage of labour, lack of fertilisers, lack of cash, and the use of low-yielding varieties were the main challenges hindering pearl millet production in the study areas. The majority of the respondents (40%) ranked S. hermonthica infestation as the primary constraint affecting pearl millet production. Respondent farmers reported yield losses of up to 80% due to S. hermonthica infestation. 61.4% of the respondents in the study areas had achieved a mean pearl millet yields of <1 t/ha. Poor access and the high cost of introduced seed, and a lack of farmers preferred traits in the existing introduced pearl millet varieties were the main reasons for their low adoption, as reported by 32% of respondents. S. hermonthica management options in pearl millet production fields included moisture conservation using terraces, manual hoeing, hand weeding, use of microplots locally referred to as ‘zaï’, crop rotation and mulching. These management techniques were ineffective because they do not suppress the below ground S. hermonthica seed, and they are difficult to implement. Integrated management practices employing breeding for S. hermonthica resistant varieties with the aforementioned control measures could offer a sustainable solution for S. hermonthica management and improved pearl millet productivity in Burkina Faso.


1968 ◽  
Vol 8 (35) ◽  
pp. 767
Author(s):  
RN Allen

Control of post-emergence damping-off, basal stem rot, and root rot of vetch (Vicia sativu) caused by Pythium debaryanum and other pythiaceous fungi, was obtained in a sod-sown field trial at Wollongbar, New South Wales, by applying the fungicide Dexon (R) (p-dimethylaminobenzenediazo sodium sulphonate) with the fertilizer in the furrow at sowing. Dexon improved plant establishment and survival, and increased plant vigour in the early stages of growth. Dry matter yield of vetch was increased from 206 lb an acre without Dexon, to 604 lb an acre with Dexon applied at 8 oz an acre (4.3 mg per row ft), with a corresponding reduction in the cost of fodder produced. Yield responses were also obtained at lower and higher rates, but at 64 oz an acre the Dexon was phytotoxic and no yield response was observed despite excellent disease control.


1999 ◽  
Vol 132 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. V. K. SIVAKUMAR ◽  
S. A. SALAAM

A comprehensive study was conducted over a 4-year period (1984–87) to evaluate the water use, growth and yield responses of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.) cv. CIVT grown with and without fertilizer (30 kg P2O5 and 45 kg N ha−1) at the ICRISAT Sahelian Centre, Sadoré, Niger. Our study showed significant year and fertilizer effects on the growth and yield of millet at the study site. Observed year effects were primarily due to the variations in the amount and distribution of rainfall in relation to the potential demand for water. During 1984, 1985 and 1987, total rainfall was below the long term average, while in 1986 it was above average. While the onset of rains (relative to the average date of onset) was early from 1984 to 1986, in 1987 the sowings were delayed by as much as 33 days. Of all the four years, the separation between the treatments in the cumulative evaporation is most evident for 1984, which was a drought year with below-average rainfall in all the months from June to September. Cumulative evaporation patterns in 1985 and 1986 were similar because of regular rains and high average rainfall per rainy day from June to October. In 1987, sowings were delayed until 15 July and only 6·9 mm of rainfall was received per rainy day in July. Hence cumulative evaporation was initially low and showed a significant increase only after two significant rain events in early August. There was a large response to fertilizer in all the years as small additions of fertilizer phosphate increased the soluble phosphate in the soil. Fertilizer application resulted in a small increase in water use (7–14%) in all years except 1987. Increased yield due to the application of fertilizer was accompanied by an increase in the water-use efficiency (WUE) in all the four years with the largest increase in 1985. The beneficial effect of fertilizers could be attributed to the rapid early growth of leaves which can contribute to reduction of soil evaporative losses and increased WUE. Over the four seasons, average increase in the WUE due to the addition of fertilizer was 84%.


2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (49) ◽  
pp. 3441-3446
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Zida P. ◽  
James Néya B. ◽  
Romain Soalla W. ◽  
Sérémé Paco ◽  
Søgaard Lund Ole

2000 ◽  
Vol 135 (4) ◽  
pp. 399-407 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. BAGAYOKO ◽  
E. GEORGE ◽  
V. RÖMHELD ◽  
A. BUERKERT

Despite numerous reports on the positive effects of vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizae (VAM) on plant growth in temperate soils, surprisingly little data exist on the importance of VAM for crop growth on acid sandy soils of West Africa. A pot experiment conducted with local genotypes of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum L.), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) and cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) with and without phosphorus (P) application in a sterilized sandy soil from a farmer's field in Niger showed large growth-enhancing effects of VAM. Phosphorus application led to 18- and 24-fold increases in pearl millet root and shoot dry matter independently of VAM, whereas the shoot and root dry matter of sorghum and cowpea depended largely on the interaction between P application and VAM. With P, VAM increased total uptake of P, K, Ca, Mg and Zn by 2·5- to 6-fold in sorghum and cowpea. On severely P deficient West African soils P application can lead to large increases in early root growth, a prerequisite for early mycorrhizal infection and a subsequent significant contribution of VAM to enhanced plant growth and nutrient uptake.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. 2980-2991
Author(s):  
Gapili Naoura ◽  
Nerbéwendé Sawadogo ◽  
Nadjiam Djirabaye ◽  
Mahamat Alhabib Hassane

Pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] is a vital staple food crop for poor people in dry-land areas. It plays an important role on human consumption in South of Chad where farmers always used landraces with a little adoption of improved cultivars. Evaluation of agronomic performance of inbred cultivars at research station is important to identify the high performance genotype to be released as new cultivars in farmer area. So, five improved varieties associated with a well-known variety from research were evaluated for ten agronomical traits. Experiment was carried out during rainy season of 2019 at the research station of Bébédjia, South of Chad. The results of the analysis of variance of assessed traits showed high significant differences (p<0.001) for spike girth and slight significant difference (p<0.05) for days to flowering, thousand seeds weight and productive tillers per plant. An important positive and significant correlations were also noted between day to flowering and number of grains per plot (r = 0.7; p<0.01), seed weight per plot (0.684; p<0.01) and potential grain yield (r = 0.684; p<0.01). Moreover, three cultivars with an important potential grains yield namely ICMV167006 (4.99 t.ha−1), ICMV 167005 (4.68 t.ha−1) and ICMV177111 (3.98 t.ha−1) were identified. Otherwise, for the days to flowering, the cultivars ICMV167006 (73.67 days), ICMV 167005 (75.33 days) are earlier than ICMV 177 111 (78.67 days). These cultivars could be proposed to be released in farmer area as novel cultivars.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Lardia Ali Bougma ◽  
Mahamadi Hamed Ouédraogo ◽  
Adjima Ouoba ◽  
Abdou Azaque Zouré ◽  
Nerbéwendé Sawadogo ◽  
...  

Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) is one the most important crops in Burkina Faso. Knowledge of the genetic parameters of different pearl millet landraces grown in Burkina Faso is of great importance for improvement and breeding programs of pearl millet. In this study, 20 pairs of SSR markers were used to compare and analyze the genetic diversity of 86 landrace populations. Results show a total of 67 alleles detected and each locus varies between 2 and 6 with an average of 4 alleles per marker. The probability to having two different alleles per locus was 0.61. The values of genetic diversity parameters of pearl millet populations from the northern region of the country were higher than those from the others regions. The analysis indicates that, over time, alleles are lost and new alleles are added. Analysis of molecular variance showed genetic variation was primarily a function of differences in cultivated populations. Most pairwise FST comparisons between provenances were at a statistically significant level. Our study will provide a scientific basis for the effective management and utilization of germplasm resources of pearl millet populations.


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