"9970","14","archive","1305",,,"disk0/00/00/99/70","2017-04-19 04:50:05","2017-04-19 04:50:05","2017-04-19 04:50:05","article",,,"show",,,,"","","","","","","","","","",,,,"Blessing","O C","","","","","","","Ibrahim","A","","","","",,,,,"","",,,,,"","","Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) (Enugu State)","Nigeria","Fertilizer micro-dosing in West African low-input cereals cropping: Benefits, challenges and improvement strategies","pub","S1","CRPS1","","public",,,"Fertilizer micro-dosing, smallholder farmer, crop yield, farmer’s income",,"Authors acknowledge the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) for scholarship support to the first and second authors and institutional support to KNUST and CSIR-SRI.","Soil amendments are often unavailable in adequate quantities for increased crop production in smallholder cereal-based cropping systems in Africa. In order to increase crop yields and encourage farmers to apply inorganic fertilizers, fertilizer micro-dosing technology was developed. Fertilizer micro-dosing or “micro-fertilization” consists of the application of a small quantity of mineral fertilizer together with seeds of the target crop in the planting hole at sowing or 2-4 weeks after sowing. The objective of this paper is to review literature concerning crops responses to fertilizer micro-dosing in West Africa. The review also evaluates the benefits and challenges associated with nutrient management under fertilizer micro-dosing and supportive strategies for further improvement in the efficient use of limited nutrient sources of smallholder farmers were suggested. Recent scientific developments on fertilizer micro-dosing revealed that this technology has given promising results in respect of crop yields improvement, fertilizer use efficiency and economic returns. Other studies have, however, indicated that fertilizer micro-dosing increases the risk of soil nutrient imbalances due to low-input. For this reason, we suggest that fertilizer micro-dosing should be used in concert with organic amendments to optimize productivity of smallholder farmers in West Africa.","2017-04","published",,"African Journal of Agricultural Research","12","14","Academic Journals",,"1169-1176",,,,,,"10.5897/AJAR2016.11559",,,,,"TRUE",,"1991-637X",,,,,,"","http://doi.org/10.5897/AJAR2016.11559","https://scholar.google.co.in/scholar?hl=en&q=Fertilizer+micro-dosing+in+West+African+low-input+cereals+cropping%3A+Benefits%2C+challenges+and+improvement+strategies&btnG=","pub",,"","",,,,,,"",,,,,,,"",,,,,"",,,,,"","",,,,,"","",,,,,
"9970",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,"Ibrahim","A","","",,,,,"Logah","V","","",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,"ICRISAT (Niamey)","Niger",,,"s16",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
"9970",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,"Safo","E Y","","",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,"Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (Kumasi)","Ghana",,,"s2.5",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
"9970",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,"Yeboah","E","","",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,"CSIR – Soil Research Institute, Kwadaso (Kumasi)",,,,"s28",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
"9970",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,"Abaidoo","R C","","",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,"College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (Kumasi)",,,,"s4009",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
"9970",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,"Logah","V","","",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,"International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (Ibadan)",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
"9970",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,"Monica","U I","","",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,