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
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Abstract
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.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Divisions: | Research Program : West & Central Africa |
| CRP: | UNSPECIFIED |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Fertilizer micro-dosing, smallholder farmer, crop yield, farmer’s income |
| Subjects: | Others > Cereals Others > Fertilizers Others > Fertilizer Applications Others > African Agriculture Others > West Africa |
| Depositing User: | Mr Ramesh K |
| Date Deposited: | 19 Apr 2017 04:50 |
| Last Modified: | 19 Apr 2017 04:50 |
| URI: | http://oar.icrisat.org/id/eprint/9970 |
| Official URL: | http://doi.org/10.5897/AJAR2016.11559 |
| Projects: | UNSPECIFIED |
| Funders: | UNSPECIFIED |
| Acknowledgement: | 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. |
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