Soil degradation, which is linked to poor nutrient management, remains a major constraint to sustained crop production in smallholder urban agriculture (UA) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). While organic nutrient resources are often used in UA to complement mineral fertilizers in soil fertility management, they are usually scarce and of poor quality to provide optimum nutrients for crop uptake. Alternative soil nutrient management options are required.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVariability in crop response and nutrient use efficiencies to fertilizer application is quite common under varying soil and climatic conditions. Understanding such variability is vital to develop farm- and area- specific soil nutrient management and fertilizer recommendations. Hence the objectives of this study were to assess maize grain yield response to nutrient applications for identifying yield-limiting nutrients and to understand the magnitude of nutrient use efficiencies under varying soil and rainfall conditions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn sub-Saharan Africa, there is considerable spatial and temporal variability in relations between nutrient application and crop yield, due to varying inherent soil nutrients supply, soil moisture, crop management and germplasm. This variability affects fertilizer use efficiency and crop productivity. Therefore, development of decision systems that support formulation and delivery of site-specific fertilizer recommendations is important for increased crop yield and environmental protection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA synthesis of available agronomic datasets and peer-reviewed scientific literature was conducted to: (1) assess the status of micronutrients in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) arable soils, (2) improve the understanding of the relations between soil quality/management and crop nutritional quality and (3) evaluate the potential profitability of application of secondary and micronutrients to key food crops in SSA, namely maize (Zea mays L.), beans (Phaseolus spp. and Vicia faba L.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEstablishing balanced nutrient requirements for maize ( L.) in the Northern Nigerian Savanna is paramount to develop site-specific fertilizer recommendations to increase maize yield, profits of farmers and avoid negative environmental impacts of fertilizer use. The model QUEFTS (QUantitative Evaluation of Fertility of Tropical Soils) was used to estimate balanced nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) requirements for maize production in the Northern Nigerian Savanna.
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