Le phosphore limite-t-il la production intensive du riz dans la plaine de Bagré au Burkina Faso ?

Le phosphore (P) est un élément important dans la nutrition minérale du riz et dans l’élaboration du rendement paddy. Des essais soustractifs ont été conduits en milieu paysan dans la plaine rizicole de Bagré au cours de trois campagnes successives pour évaluer l’effet de l’application de P sur le rendement paddy. La capacité nutritive du sol en phosphore a varié entre 7 et 15 kg P ha-1. L’application de P a augmenté l’efficacité physiologique interne de P qui a varié entre 211 et 290 kg paddy kg-1 P (moyenne 249 kg kg-1). L’efficacité agronomique de P a été de 33,7 kg paddy kg–1 de P appliqué. L’augmentation de rendement due à l’application de phosphore a été de 19%. En moyenne, 70% du phosphore total absorbé est contenu dans les grains. L’évolution du rendement paddy indique que P est le second facteur limitant dans la plaine de Bagré après l’azote. L’application de P_engrais à une dose moyenne de 30 kg P ha-1 était suffisante pour compenser les pertes dues aux exportations. Le phosphore limite la production de riz à Bagré mais son application comme engrais contribue à améliorer les rendements paddy et à compenser les pertes de P du système.Mots clés : Capacité nutritive des sols, rizières, efficacité d’utilisation de nutriments, bilan minéral

Yield gaps, nutrient use efficiencies and response to fertilisers by maize across heterogeneous smallholder farms of western Kenya

The need to promote fertiliser use by African smallholder farmers to counteract the current decline in per capita food production is widely recognised. But soil heterogeneity results in variable responses of crops to fertilisers within single farms. We used existing databases on maize production under farmer (F-M) and researcher management (R-M) to analyse the effect of soil heterogeneity on the different components of nutrient use efficiency by maize growing on smallholder farms in western Kenya: nutrient availability, capture and conversion efficiencies and crop biomass partitioning. Subsequently, we used the simple model QUEFTS to calculate nutrient recovery efficiencies from the R-M plots and to calculate attainable yields with and without fertilisers based on measured soil properties across heterogeneous farms. The yield gap of maize between F-M and R-M varied from 0.5 to 3 t grain ha-1 season-1 across field types and localities. Poor fields under R-M yielded better than F-M, even without fertilisers. Such differences, of up to 1.1 t ha-1 greater yields under R-M conditions are attributable to improved agronomic management and germplasm. The relative response of maize to N-P-K fertilisers tended to decrease with increasing soil quality (soil C and extractable P), from a maximum of 4.4-fold to -0.5- fold relative to the control. Soil heterogeneity affected resource use efficiencies mainly through effects on the efficiency of resource capture. Apparent recovery efficiencies varied between 0 and 70% for N, 0 and 15% for P, and 0 to 52% for K. Resource conversion efficiencies were less variable across fields and localities, with average values of 97 kg DM kg-1 N, 558 kg DM kg-1 P and 111 kg DM kg-1 K taken up. Using measured soil chemical properties QUEFTS over-estimated observed yields under F-M, indicating that variable crop performance within and across farms cannot be ascribed solely to soil nutrient availability. For the R-M plots QUEFTS predicted positive crop responses to application of 30 kg P ha-1 and 30 kg P ha-1 + 90 kg N ha-1 for a wide range of soil qualities, indicating that there is room to improve current crop productivity through fertiliser use. To ensure their efficient use in sub-Saharan Africa mineral fertilisers should be: (1) targeted to specific niches of soil fertility within heterogeneous farms; and (2) go hand-in-hand with the implementation of agronomic measures to improve their capture and utilisation

Decision support tools for site-specific fertilizer recommendations and agricultural planning in selected countries in sub-Sahara Africa

Peer Revie

Micro paddy lysimeter for monitoring solute transport in paddy environment

The micro paddy lysimeter (MPL) was developed and evaluated for its performance to simulate solute transport in paddy environment under laboratory conditions. MPLs were constructed using soil collected from Field Museum Honmachi of Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Japan. For the physical characteristics of the hardpan layer, parameters such as thickness, and soil aggregate size, affecting the percolation rate were studied. For the plow layer, two types of plow soils, sieved and un-sieved soils were compared. The sieved soil plow layer was produced by mixing air-dried soils of different aggregate sizes of D > 9.50, 9.50 ≥ D > 4.75, 4.75 ≥ D > 2.0 mm and D ≤ 2.0 mm at 47.1, 19.5, 20.6, and 12.8%, respectively. The un-sieved plow layer soil was directly used after collecting from the field. Inert tracer was applied to ponding water with controlled boundary conditions to evaluate the reproducibility of the soil hydraulic characteristics. HYDRUS-1D was used to evaluate the movement of bromide tracer in the MPL. The proposed conditions of the MPL were that the hardpan layer can be made from soil aggregates smaller than 0.425 mm with 2 cm thickness and that the plow layer can be prepared with sieved or un-sieved soils. With these conditions, the obtained results proved that MPLs can be a useful tool to simulate solute transport in paddy environment