Millet nutrient use efficiency as affected by natural soil fertility, mineral fertilizer use and rainfall in the West African Sahel

Fofana, B.; Wopereis, M.C.S.; Bationo, A.; Breman, H.; Mando, A.

doi:10.1007/s10705-007-9146-y

Cited by 34 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 16 publications

(16 reference statements)

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“…However, all treatments also supplied small quantities of N, and in the case of NPK, potassium. Regarding the latter, potassium is generally not considered a limiting nutrient for commonly encountered millet productivity levels in the Sahelian zone of Niger, in part because of substantial K inputs from Harmattan dust (Fofana et al, 2007;Herrmann et al, 1996).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Millet response to microdose fertilization in south–western Niger: Effect of antecedent fertility management and environmental factors

Bielders

Gérard²

2015

Field Crops Research

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a b s t r a c tSoil fertility is a major constraint to agricultural development in most of the Sahel, with P being the most limiting nutrient for millet production on acid sandy soils. To address this issue, microdose applications of P fertilizer have been widely advocated in recent years. However, little is known regarding the effect of farmer management practices and environmental factors on millet's yield response to this technique. For this purpose, 276 farmer demonstrations were setup across a 3-year period in the Fakara region, western Niger. Five strata were considered based on antecedent organic manure management (corralling or transported manure). At each demo site, conventional management was compared to basal microdose fertilizer application of DAP (2 g hill −1 ), NPK (6 g hill −1 ), or DAP (2 g hill −1 ) with urea (1 g hill −1 ) applied at tillering. Millet grain yields on control plots were low (84% < 400 kg ha −1 ), reflecting the unfavorable environmental conditions of the area. On average, the application of DAP, NPK and DAP + urea increased grain yields by 43, 46 and 69 kg ha −1 (2001)(2002). A positive response to microdose fertilization was observed for 92% of the sites where yields on control plots were <100 kg ha −1 but only for 32% of the sites where yields on control plots were >500 kg ha −1 . In particular, the positive response to microdosing increased with later sowing given that late sowing tended to reduce yields on control plots. Higher rainfall during the early growing season favored a positive response to microdosing. On average over DAP and DAP + urea, 36% of the demonstrations had value-cost ratios (VCR) < 1. However, for low yielding control plots (<200 kg grain ha −1 ), 26% of the demonstrations had VCR < 1, whereas for high yielding plots (>400 kg grain ha −1 ), 55% had a VCR < 1. Not accounting for labor, DAP and DAP + urea had similar economic returns. The use of NPK could not be recommended as the cost per unit P is 3 times higher than DAP. It appears that, for the Fakara study area, microdosing may best be targeted to areas with low expected yields. In particular, it may serve as a famine mitigation strategy in case of late sowing. Nevertheless, for poorly endowed areas such as the Fakara, the economic risk associated with microdosing (2 g DAP hill −1 ) appears higher than has hitherto been reported and widespread adoption may not be warranted without institutional support.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Millet response to microdose fertilization in south–western Niger: Effect of antecedent fertility management and environmental factors

Bielders

Gérard²

2015

Field Crops Research

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“…Similarly, Liu et al (2008) found that, under a relatively high background soil K fertility circumstance, applying fertilizer K significantly increased yield of tomato supplied with high N. Without fertilizer K input, high yield potential driven by high N input might deplete soil K supply. The deficient K in the control treatment substantially decreased photosynthesis (Kanai et al 2011), and limited growth of crops even supplied with adequate N (Fofana et al 2008), resulting in significantly lower N uptake in the K control treatment. The K deficiency was also reported to depress stem diameter expansion and then limited the translocation of assimilates to fruits (Kanai et al 2011), lowering NHI in the K control treatment.…”

Section: Fertilizer K Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Crop and soil nitrogen responses to phosphorus and potassium fertilization and drip irrigation under processing tomato

Liu

Zhang

Tan

et al. 2012

Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst

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Shortage of water or nutrient supplies can restrict the high nitrogen (N) demand of processing tomato, leaving high residual soil N resulting in negative environmental impacts. A 4-year field experiment, 2006-2009, was conducted to study the effects of water management consisting of drip irrigation (DI) and non-irrigation (NI), fertilizer phosphorus (P) rates (0, 30, 60, and 90 kg P ha -1 ), and fertilizer potassium (K) rates (0, 200, 400, and 600 kg K ha -1 ) on soil and plant N when a recommended N rate of 270 kg N ha -1 was applied. Compared with the NI treatment, DI increased fruit N removal by 101 %, plant total N uptake by 26 %, and N harvest index by 55 %. Consequently, DI decreased apparent field N balance (fertiliser N input minus plant total N uptake) by 28 % and cumulative post-harvest soil N in the 0-100 cm depth by 33 %. Post-harvest soil N concentration was not affected by water management in the 0-20 cm depth, but was significantly higher in the NI treatment in the 20-100 cm depth. Fertilizer P input had no effects on all variables except for decreasing N concentration in the stems and leaves. Fertilizer K rates significantly affected plant N utilization, with highest fruit N removal and plant total N uptake at the 200 kg K ha -1 treatment; therefore, supplementing K had the potential to decrease gross N losses during tomato growing seasons. Based on the measured apparent field N balance and spatial distribution of soil N, gross N losses during the growing season were more severe than expected in a region that is highly susceptible to post-harvest soil N losses.

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“…Soil organic carbon contents of between 11 and 22 g/kg have been observed in home gardens compared with 2-5 g/kg soil in bush fields. Fofana et al (2006) in a comparative study at Karabédji-Niger on degraded lands (bush fields) and non degraded (infields) have observed that millet grain yield across years and fertilizer averaged only 800 kg/ha in bush fields and 1,360 kg/ha on infields. Recovery of fertilizer N (RFN) applied varied considerably and ranged from 17% to 23% on bush fields and from 34% to 37% on infields.…”

Section: Long-term Millet Trials Phosphorus Nitrogen Crop Residue (mentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-Term Soil Fertility Trials in Niger, West Africa

Abdou¹,

Koala

Bationo

2012

Lessons Learned From Long-Term Soil Fertility Management Experiments in Africa

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Millet nutrient use efficiency as affected by natural soil fertility, mineral fertilizer use and rainfall in the West African Sahel

Cited by 34 publications

References 16 publications

Millet response to microdose fertilization in south–western Niger: Effect of antecedent fertility management and environmental factors

Millet response to microdose fertilization in south–western Niger: Effect of antecedent fertility management and environmental factors

Crop and soil nitrogen responses to phosphorus and potassium fertilization and drip irrigation under processing tomato

Long-Term Soil Fertility Trials in Niger, West Africa

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