relation: http://oar.icrisat.org/9970/
title: Fertilizer micro-dosing in West African low-input cereals cropping: Benefits, challenges and improvement strategies
creator: Blessing, O C
creator: Ibrahim, A
creator: Safo, E Y
creator: Yeboah, E
creator: Abaidoo, R C
creator: Logah, V
creator: Monica, U I
subject: Cereals
subject: Fertilizers
subject: Fertilizer Applications
subject: African Agriculture
subject: West Africa
description: 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.
publisher: Academic Journals
date: 2017-04
type: Article
type: PeerReviewed
format: application/pdf
language: en
identifier: http://oar.icrisat.org/9970/1/Fertilizer%20micro-dosing.pdf
identifier:   Blessing, O C and Ibrahim, A and Safo, E Y and Yeboah, E and Abaidoo, R C and Logah, V and Monica, U I  (2017) Fertilizer micro-dosing in West African low-input cereals cropping: Benefits, challenges and improvement strategies.  African Journal of Agricultural Research, 12 (14).  pp. 1169-1176.  ISSN 1991-637X     
relation: http://doi.org/10.5897/AJAR2016.11559
relation: 10.5897/AJAR2016.11559