Fertilizer Reports
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- ItemDevelopment and Dissemination of Sustainable Integrated Soil Fertility Management Practices for Smallholder Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa(2005-12) IFDCThe Development and Dissemination of Sustainable and Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) Practices for Smallholder Farms in Sub-Saharan Africa were implemented by IFDC and TSBF of the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and partners at key sites in seven West African countries. The key sites in West Africa were Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Togo, and Ghana, and Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe were key sites in Southern Africa. The ISFM Framework Project started in May 2001 and ended in December 2004. At all sites, activities were based on annual action plans developed with partners during annual workshops. Action plans typically included training, research, public awareness, and up/out scaling activities. Partners included seven IFAD investment programs, thirteen national research institutes and universities, fifteen non-governmental organizations (NGOs), five financial institutions, and ten national extension agencies. Two networks were active in coordinating the research and extension efforts—the Agricultural Intensification in Sub-Saharan Africa (AISSA) network established with financial backing from this project and convened by IFDC and the African Network for Soil Biology and Fertility (AfNet) convened by TSBF-CIAT. Although biased toward the latter, the project’s logical framework encompassed the entire research-to-development continuum from process research to adaptive research and dissemination. At the process level, the project generated an improved understanding of interactions between organic inputs and mineral fertilizers and their impact on soil organic matter buildup and nutrient supply. More insight was also gained into farmers’ priorities regarding soil fertility management and social and gender differences among farmers regarding access and management of soil resources. The key challenge at the action research level was combining local knowledge of socio-economic and biophysical determinants of yield and soil quality with scientific knowledge of agroecological principles to develop practical and feasible technologies to boost farm production and maintain or improve soil fertility. Many technological options (two to three options per site) were evaluated in three main farming systems, i.e., the agro-pastoral millet/sorghum system, the maize-mixed system, and the irrigated rice-based system. In low-input systems, most evaluated technologies were based on combining organic inputs and judicious use of mineral fertilizers. Organic inputs included household waste, cattle manure, and straw. Other technological options tested with farmers focused on introducing N-fixing legumes in farming systems, such as mucuna, soybean, and cowpea. Fertilizer-N recovery rates were doubled in most cases (from a low 0.10–0.15 kg kg1 to 0.4 kg kg1 for sorghum). Yields were increased from 0.4 to 0.7 t ha1 to 2 to 2.7 for sorghum and from 0.8 t ha1 to 3 to 4 t ha1 for maize. In the Sahel and Sudano-savanna zone, water conservation technologies were combined with improved soil fertility management (including precision placement of microdoses of mineral fertilizer) to achieve higher and more sustainable yields. In high-input rice-based systems, the focus was on site specific nutrient management and improved crop management in general. Compared with existing recommendations, yield gains of 0.15 to 0.55 t ha1 were obtained with site-specific approaches at equal costs leading to increased gross returns above fertilizer costs by an average of U.S. $140 per season compared with both farmers’ practice and existing recommendations. The research results were used to develop and fine-tune several decision support tools that can be used to conduct ex-ante impact analyses of promising technologies. The National Agricultural Research and Extension Systems (NARES) and NGO staff involved in the project were trained in participatory learning and action-research approaches emphasizing agroecological principles rather than technology prescriptions. Attention was also paid to the development of institutional arrangements to facilitate the adoption of the technological options, such as improved access to mineral fertilizer and credit, through collaboration with two other IFDC projects funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the International Fertilizer Industry Association (IFA). These efforts culminated in the development the Competitive Agricultural Systems and Enterprises (CASE) approach. CASE combines participatory development of improved natural resource management technologies with coordinated efforts to experiment and extend alternative institutional arrangements that link farmers with input dealers, micro-finance, and traders. CASE also strengthens the innovative capacities of the various stakeholders involved. The CASE approach was evaluated with partners within the AISSA network. As a result of the project, 40 scientific papers were published or submitted to journals; four PhD theses and numerous M.S. theses were also written. Seven technical advisory notes (TANs) were derived from the research data. The project summarized the agroecological principles of ISFM in a manual; it also contributed to a facilitators’ manual, a technical manual for inland valley rice systems, and an ISFM manual published by an NGO (VeCO). The project actively worked with partners within IFAD-funded investment programs: • The former rural development project in southern Togo (PODV). • The South-West Development Project. • The special program for soil and water conservation and agro-forestry in Burkina Faso. • The Smallholder Floodplains Development Program, Malawi. • The Southern Province Household Food Security Program in Zambia. • The South-East Dry Areas Project. • The Smallholder Dry Areas Resource Management Project in Zimbabwe. • The Umutara Community Resources and Infrastructure Development Project (UCRIDP) in Rwanda. The project provided technical backstopping and training and stimulated participatory research on technological options and institutional arrangement to accelerate agricultural intensification using the CASE approach. Project staff also participated in formulation missions for the Programme d’Investissement Communautaire en Fertilité Agricole (PICOFA) and Projet de Développement Rural Durable du Burkina Faso (PDRDB) investment programs in Burkina Faso. Contacts were also established with IFAD investment programs in Ghana, Nigeria, Benin, and Mozambique. Two international training courses (one in English, one in French) were organized on the technological and institutional aspects of ISFM for partners from NARES, NGOs, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and investment program staff. The English training material is currently used for a distance learning course via the Internet by the Sustainable Development of Learning Network in Bangkok. Several training courses tailored to the specific needs and demands of partners at key sites were also provided. Many exchange visits and workshops were organized to enhance knowledge dissemination between countries and regions. The main lessons from the project are that translating research results into farm practice is not just about technologies but, more especially, about people and reinforcing their decision-making and capacity to analyze trade-offs and options and access information, services, and markets. This calls for a new approach to doing business in agricultural research and development. This new paradigm emphasizes interdisciplinary teamwork, inter-institutional partnerships, stakeholder involvement, participatory approaches, and systems thinking.
- ItemPlant Strategies and Cultural Practices to Improve the Uptake of Indigenous Soil P and the Efficiency of Fertilization(2013-04) Bindraban, Prem S.; A.L. Smit ; M. Blom-Zandstra; A. van der WerfPhosphorus (P) availability is a significant constraint in global crop production. Current annual mineral P fertilizer input exceeds the actual uptake by crops, leading to P accumulation in soils and inefficient resource utilization. This study investigates the hypothesis that enhancing early plant growth can improve P uptake from indigenous soil resources and fertilizer P. The low recovery rate of applied mineral P fertilizer, typically less than 30%, is attributed to its binding with soil complexes, making it less available for plant uptake. The soil solution often exhibits very low P concentrations compared to root concentrations, emphasizing the need to increase P availability or enhance plants' ability to extract P from soil complexes. In regions with P-deficient soils, substantial P applications are required to improve fertility and enhance crop yields. Similarly, unintentional excess P application occurs in areas with nutrient surpluses, resulting from concentrated livestock production and subsequent manure application. These fertile soils can contain excessive total soil P, far exceeding the annual crop uptake. If these soil P reserves were fully available to crops, they could sustain agricultural production for several hundred years. Case studies in Africa demonstrate the relationship between total soil P content and maize grain yield, indicating the potential longevity of soil P reserves in sustaining production. Even soils with relatively low fertility levels have sufficient total P content to support production for over a hundred years. However, the assumed P content in crop biomass may be lower at these sites, implying even longer sustainability. By enhancing early plant growth, this study aims to improve plant P uptake efficiency, effectively utilize accumulated soil P, and optimize the uptake of newly applied P fertilizers. The findings of this research contribute to developing strategies for sustainable P management, promoting efficient resource utilization and improved crop productivity.
- ItemSe Fertilization: An Agro-Ecosystem Approach(2014-03) Bindraban, Prem S.; G.H. Ros; A.M.D. van Rotterdam; G.D. Doppenberg; D.W. BussinkSelenium (Se) is an essential micronutrient for humans, animals and certain lower plants, and its supply in global food systems is highly variable. The variation of Se status in humans largely depends on their diet, which is strongly related to the geographical variation in soil’s Se level. Selenium deficiency is regarded as a major health problem for 0.5 to 1 billion people worldwide. Whereas the global importance of selenium deficiency has been recognized for decades, strategic micronutrient interventions to overcome this deficiency are still limited. Basically, there are two groups of fortification strategies available to increase Se intake worldwide. First of all, human Se intake may be increased by supplementation of livestock, direct food fortification or supplementation with Se pills. Alternatively, agronomic strategies like plant breeding and fertilization can be used to increase Se uptake of staple food crops. We argue that the best strategy depends on the natural, societal and economic properties of local agro-ecosystems. Adapting the fortification strategy to the local properties of an agro-ecosystem is the way forward to solve Se deficiencies worldwide without resource exhaustion of the worlds’ scarce Se resources and potentially harmful environmental side-effects. An essential part of such an agro-ecosystem approach will be a robust and reliable fertilizer strategy that takes the spatial and temporal variability in climatic conditions, soil properties and cropping systems into consideration. Selecting the proper fertilizer strategy requires a mechanistic understanding of Se plant-soil-atmosphere cycling and insights in plant availability of added Se fertilizers. The research presented in this report aims to identify when applying Se fertilizer is effective in specific agroecosystems based on an inventory of specific production-ecological causes for its deficiency in relation to fertilizer application. Important factors controlling Se availability and uptake are identified using meta-analysis and are integrated in a framework for a decision support tool that guides users in the selection of effective fortification strategies. This research primarily focuses on fertilization as a fortification strategy, but other strategies are briefly introduced and evaluated. The review and meta-analysis indicate that fertilizer doses need to match crop demand with Se supply, given the capacity of soils to supply or retain Se during the growing season. Main soil properties controlling crop uptake efficiency of applied Se include acidity, redox potential, texture and organic matter. Agronomic practices such as liming, irrigation and basic fertilization (nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur) additionally affect the crop uptake efficiency. Adapting fertilizer strategies to the local agronomic situation and soil properties can increase the crop uptake efficiency from 10% (common situation) up to 50%. Important fertilizer strategies include: The use of a site specific fertilizer dose: Se fertilizer use should account for the Se supply and availability in the soil and any residual effects of former Se fertilizer applications. The choice for a specific Se fertilizer: Selenate is about 8 times more effective on the short term than selenite and has smaller residual effects. Application technique: Both foliar- and soil-applied fertilizers are able to enhance Se uptake, but foliar application is more resource efficient. Seed coating can be an alternative, but the crop uptake efficiency is usually less than 10%. Application timing: Fertilizer application during the growing season results in higher Se levels in the crop in comparison with fertilizer applications before the growing season. By far, the most resource-efficient way to increase the Se intake in the world’s population appears to be by adding Se to food products along the production chain. The positive effects of food processing is however limited by the fact that a limited number of people have access to processed foods, particularly in developing countries. Fortification through agronomic practices can therefore be an efficient and effective approach to increase human (and animal) Se intake through simple techniques that can be integrated in current farm management. Plant breeding for enhanced Se uptake efficiency and Se fertilization are currently the most promising agronomic strategies to increase Se status of human populations as they can deliver increased Se to a whole population safely, effectively, efficiently and in the most suitable chemical forms. These strategies might also be complementary to fortification strategies like food processing. Social and economic factors such as the availability of Se-enriched fertilizers and governmental incentives and regulations are needed to increase farmers and public acceptance of fortification programs and Se-enriched food products. The developed decision support tool integrates all these aspects in such a way that it can be applied to any agro-ecosystem. In summary, agro-ecosystem-dependent fortification strategies are necessary to increase human Se intake without exhaustion of the worlds’ scarce Se resources. The use of Se fertilizers is currently one of the most promising strategies, in particular when the fertilizer strategy (dose, formulation, application and timing) is adapted to the local properties of an agro-ecosystem.