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Improving the Profitability, Sustainability and Efficiency of Nutrients Through Site Specific Fertilizer Recommendations in West Africa Agro-Ecosystems pp 241–252Cite as

Improving Agronomic Efficiency of Mineral Fertilizers through Microdose on Sorghum in the Sub-arid Zone of Burkina Faso

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Abstract

Maintaining and/or improving soil fertility under conditions of climatic deterioration remains one of the major challenges facing small-scale farmers of the sub-Saharan regions in ensuring their food production. To address this issue, trials combining mineral fertilizer microdosing, MD (2g NPK/seed hole), soil and water conservation (SWC) techniques (zaï associated or not with stone lines or grass strips) were conducted for three years with sorghum (local and improved varieties) on two sites in the north Sudanian zone of Burkina Faso. The main objective of the study was to analyze the effects of the different technology packages tested on sorghum yields and soil chemical characteristics. The results showed that the use of MD technique enabled to double sorghum grain yields. This effect was further enhanced when combined with SWC techniques (45%). The use of the improved sorghum variety increased grain yields by approximately 11%, 70% and 85% when combined with SWC, MD and SWC + MD techniques respectively. Regarding the impact of these technologies on soil fertility, plots developed with SWC techniques showed increases in total organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus contents as well as in available phosphorus between 30% and 80%.

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Acknowledgements

This study was made possible thanks to the financial support of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC); and through the collaboration of researchers from the University of Parakou (Benin), Institut de l’Economie Rurale (Mali), Institut National de Recherche Agronomique (Niger), the University of Saskatchewan (Canada) and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (Kenya). May they find in this work the reward for their efforts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut de l’Environnement et de Recherches Agricoles (INERA), Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

    B. Ouattara, I. Sermé, A. Traoré, F. Lompo, S. J. B. Taonda & Michel P. Sedogo

  2. University of Saskatchewan (UofS), Saskatoon, SW, Canada

    D. Peak

  3. International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), Accra, Ghana

    Andre Bationo

  4. Institut de l’Environnement et de Recherches Agricoles (INERA), Fada N’Gourma, Burkina Faso

    B. B. Somda

Authors
  1. B. Ouattara
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  4. A. Traoré
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  6. F. Lompo
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  7. S. J. B. Taonda
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  8. Michel P. Sedogo
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  9. Andre Bationo
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to B. Ouattara .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. IFDC, Accra, Ghana

    Andre Bationo

  2. Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture, Conakry, Guinea

    Djimasbé Ngaradoum

  3. IFDC-Ouaga, Ouagadougou 11, Burkina Faso

    Sansan Youl

  4. INERA, Ouagadougou 4, Burkina Faso

    Francois Lompo

  5. Soil Research Institute, CSIR Soil Research Institute, Kumasi, Ghana

    Joseph Opoku Fening

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Ouattara, B. et al. (2018). Improving Agronomic Efficiency of Mineral Fertilizers through Microdose on Sorghum in the Sub-arid Zone of Burkina Faso. In: Bationo, A., Ngaradoum, D., Youl, S., Lompo, F., Fening, J. (eds) Improving the Profitability, Sustainability and Efficiency of Nutrients Through Site Specific Fertilizer Recommendations in West Africa Agro-Ecosystems. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58789-9_13

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