On farm testing of integrated nutrient management strategies in Eastern Uganda

This paper reports on a Participatory Learning and Action Research (PLAR) process that was initiated in three villages in eastern Uganda in September 1999 to enable small-scale farmers to reverse nutrient depletion of their soils profitably by increasing their capacity to develop, adapt and use integrated natural resource management strategies. The PLAR process was also used to improve the participatory skills and tools of research and extension personnel to support this process. The farming systems of the area were characterised for socio-economic and biophysical conditions that included social organisations, wealth categories, gender, crop, soil, agro forestry and livestock production. Farmers identified soil fertility constraints, their indicators, and causes of soil fertility decline, and suggested strategies to address the problem of soil fertility decline. Soil fertility management diversity among households indicated that most farmers were not carrying out any improved soil fertility management practices, despite previous research and dissemination in the area. Following the diagnosis stage and exposure visits to other farmer groups working on integrated soil fertility projects, the farmers designed 11 experiments for on-farm testing. One hundred and twenty farmers then chose, for participatory technology development, sub-sets of these 11 experiments, based on the major agricultural constraints and the potential solutions identified and prioritised by the farmers. Quantitative and qualitative results from the testing, farmer evaluation and adaptation, training, dissemination strategies and socio-economic implications of these technologies are discussed

Inorganic resources management for sustainable soil productivity

No Abstract Available E. Afr. Agric. For. J. 2003 69(2), 119-12

Adoption of rock phosphate-fortified compost manure in Western Kenya: A farmers' perception

No Abstract Available E. Afr. Agric. For. J. 2003 69(2), 189-19

Economic evaluation of soil fertility management in groundnut fields of western Kenya

The Groundnut Research Project conducted on-farm research between 1997 and 2002 in three districts of western Kenya. The research activities at the project sites involved designing of new technologies, testing of these technologies through on farm trials involving all stakeholders and evaluating their impact. This paper provides the economic evaluation of soil fertility replenishing technologies (use of inorganic fertilizers, organic manure, and rhizobium inoculant) that were tested and recommended. Data on groundnut technologies used, yields, resource availability and use, and farmers' characteristics were collected through administration of a questionnaire to a sample of 332 farmers from the three study districts. The data was analyzed to determine whether adoption of the technologies would increase household incomes and production efficiency. Benefits and costs of each technology was computed through the use of budgets. Use of Di-ammonium Phosphate (DAP) and Nitrogen-Phosphorous-Potassium (NPK) fertilizers gave high benefit-cost ratios of 3:1 and 2.8:1 respectively. Organic manure had the lowest benefit-cost ratio (2.2:1) resulting from high cost of labor required to use this technology even in comparison with the yields obtained from the control. Use of rhizobium inoculant gave a benefit-cost ratio of 2.5:1. The technical efficiency of the farmers varied between 0.55 and 0.69 while labor allocative efficiency varied between 0.81 and 0.93. Farmers applying organic fertilizers only were technically more efficient but had lower potential yield compared to farmers who applied inorganic or a combination of organic and inorganic fertilizers. There is a high potential for farmers to increase their groundnut yields and incomes by improving on production efficiency and adopting the technologies. br> Journal of Agriculture, Forestry and the Social Sciences Vol. 3 (2) 2005: pp.1-1

Effect of phosphate rock fertilization and arbuscular mycorrhizae(AM) inoculation on growth and Nodulation of agroforestry tree seedlings

No Abstract

Occurrence of poorly responsive soils in western Kenya and associated nutrient imbalances in maize (Zea mays L.)

A poor response to fertilizer application is one of the persisting constraints preventing closure of the maize yield gaps in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It is speculated that nutrient imbalances derived from deficient and/or excessive concentrations could be one of the causes of this limited response of maize to fertilizer. This is however not confirmed and the extent of such poor response is ill-documented. To investigate this, we conducted 44 on-farm trials with a two treatment structure (with and without NPK fertilizer) in two subsequent seasons, the 2014 long rains (LR) and short rains (SR) distributed across two sites: Bungoma-Southwest and Busia-North in western Kenya. As a discriminating criterion between responsive and poorly responsive soils, we used a Value Cost Ratio (VCR) of 2 of NPK fertilizer use. Nutrient sufficiency ranges were developed using compositional nutrient diagnosis (CND method) and then used to identify both deficient and/or excessive nutrient concentrations occurring in maize grown in the poorly responsive soils.Results show that 48% of all fields from both sites could be classified as ‘poorly responsive’, with small VCR values ranging between 0.1 and 1.99. Nutrient deficiencies were more prevalent than situations of excessive concentrations in such fields. N-deficiency was the most common in the unfertilized (control) plots occurring in between 80 and 89% of the poorly responsive plots. Zn-deficiency became apparent in the fertilized plots and was observed at similar frequencies in this treatment. The next most widespread nutrient deficiencies in poorly responsive soils were those of P and Cu affecting between 70 and 79% of both control and fertilized plots. K and Mg deficiencies were rare in both treatments. This study indicates that the occurrence of poorly responsive soils in Bungoma-southwest and Busia-North is likely related to micronutrient deficiencies. These findings necessitate further investigation on the bioavailability of these micronutrients nutrients in such soils and a validation trial to evaluate the extent of crop responses.status: publishe