A study was conducted to evaluate the viability of existing and alternative technologies adaptable to the study landscape and similar areas in Madiama Commune, Mali, using cropping systems simulation modelling, Crop Syst. Results showed that overall yield efficiency compared to the attainable optimum production for 2- and 3-year rotation was 52 and 47%, respectively. In addition, long-term simulation has allowed for the determination of yield probabilities and risks linked to production and the choice of the best technology among the compared systems. PR 2t, which is small ruminant manure at 2 tonnes every year, was the dominant and most risk-efficient practice among the four organic fertilizer application technologies. The long-term 30-year average yield outputs from the three fertilizer microdosing management practices showed no significant yield difference.
Using a three-pronged approach, this chapter evaluates alternative soil management techniques that were tested in Madiama (Mali). First, it takes account of the outcomes of on-farm trials. Second, it relates them to the output of biosystems modelling. Third, it provides an assessment of the economic viability of the various techniques by deriving a notional profit for each technique. Four main types of intervention were tested: (1) applications of animal manure to crops; (2) applications of small amounts of chemical fertilizer; (3) application of PNT, a natural phosphate rock, as fertilizer; and (4) rotating and intercropping millet and cowpeas. Results indicate that corralling animals on fields, spreading animal manure, or microdosing with chemical fertilizer pay off. These practices are within the means of most farmers.
This paper begins with a general description of the Commune of Madiama in Mali, followed by an account of the historical formation of the physical and biological landscape (geology, agroecology, climate and hydrology). The paper ends with a characterization of each landscape type and associated soils according to their importance in the commune, as well as their locations, potentials and constraints.
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