BookAndre Bationo, Djimasbé Ngaradoum, Sansan Youl, Francois Lompo, Joseph Opoku Fening, editors.
Summary: Improving fertilizer recommendations for increased return from fertilizer investments and optimized crop response to fertilizer has been a major area of investigation of IFDC. Since 2008, IFDC through its Natural Resource Management (NRM) Program has partnered with national agricultural research services to undertake research, development and extensive on-farm trials in various agroecosystems in West Africa to develop site specific fertilizer recommendations for crops. Validation trials have been conducted in many countries (Benin (maize, cassava), Burkina (rice, maize and sorghum) Ghana (maize, cocoa and cassava) and Togo (maize and cassava). However, these fertilizer recommendation data remain scattered and most of them need final statistical analysis before they can be fully utilized and/or scaled out. As part of its efforts to improve fertilizer use and efficiency in West Africa, and following the recent adoption of the West African fertilizer recommendation action plan (RAP) by ECOWAS, IFDC has taken technical lead with key partner institutions and experts to build on previous and current fertilizer recommendations for various crops and countries in West Africa for wider uptake by public policy makers and fertilizer industry actors.
Contents:
Intro; Preface; Scientific Steering Committee; Contents;
Chapter 1: Soil Organic Carbon and Proper Fertilizer Recommendation; 1.1 Introduction; 1.2 Soil Organic Carbon Management; 1.3 Soil Organic Carbon Status at Farm Level; 1.4 Fertilizer Use and Soil Organic Carbon Decline; 1.5 Conclusion; References;
Chapter 2: Nutrient Management in Livestock Systems in West Africa Sahel with Emphasis on Feed and Grazing Management; 2.1 Introduction; 2.2 Materials and Methods; 2.2.1 Data Sources; 2.2.2 Data Analysis; 2.3 Results and Discussion. 2.3.1 Effect of Grazing Management on Forage Intake and Animal Performance2.3.2 Effect of Grazing Management on Collectable Manure; 2.3.3 Effect of Different Feed Types on Fecal Nitrogen and Phosphorus, and Urinary Nitrogen Output; 2.3.4 Feed and Grazing Management Factors Influencing Nutrient Cycling in Mixed Crop-Livestock Systems of West Africa Sahel; 2.3.5 Feeding the Animals and Fertilizing the Soil; 2.4 Conclusion; References;
Chapter 3: Managing Fertilizer Recommendations in Rice-Based Cropping Systems Challenges and Strategic Approaches; 3.1 Introduction. 3.2 The Rice Based Systems and Soil Constraints3.2.1 The Rainfed Upland Rice System; 3.2.2 The Rainfed Lowland System; 3.2.3 The Irrigated Rice System; 3.2.4 Soil Constraints; 3.3 Fertilizers Recommendation for Rice Systems; 3.3.1 Irrigated and Rainfed Lowlands; 3.3.2 Rainfed Upland; 3.4 New Concepts and Tools for Management of Fertilizers in Rice Systems; 3.4.1 The Challenges; 3.4.2 New Concepts and Tools for Fertilizer Recommendations; 3.4.3 The Site-Specific Nutrient Management in Rice System; 3.4.4 Rice Advice; 3.4.5 Integrated Crop Management; 3.4.6 Integrated Soil Fertility Management. 3.5 The Way Forward3.6 Conclusions; References;
Chapter 4: Soil Organic Carbon and Nitrogen in Agroforestry Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review; 4.1 Introduction; 4.2 Methods; 4.2.1 Definitions of the Geographic Area and Practices Studied; 4.2.2 Data Collection; 4.2.3 Data Analysis; 4.3 Results and Discussions; 4.4 Conclusion; References;
Chapter 5: Effect of Hill Placement of Nutrients on Millet Productivity and Characteristics of Sahelian Soils of Niger: Analys ... ; 5.1 Introduction; 5.2 Material and Methods; 5.2.1 Site Description; 5.2.2 Experimental Soil Properties. 5.2.3 Experimental Design5.2.4 Data Collection; 5.3 Results; 5.3.1 Rainfall Distribution During the Experimental Years; 5.3.2 Effect of Mineral Fertilizer on Total Biomass Yield Across Years and Experiments; 5.3.3 Effect of Organic Manure on Total Biomass Yield Across Years and Experiments; 5.4 Pearl Millet Total Biomass Yield Trend After Three Years of Cropping; 5.4.1 Effect of Mineral Fertilizer; 5.4.2 Effect of Organic Manure; 5.4.3 Plant Nutrient Uptake; 5.4.3.1 Plant Nutrients Absorption; 5.5 Soil Nutrients Characteristics Following Three Seasons of Cropping; 5.6 General Analysis.