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Effect of Organic Inputs and Mineral Fertilizer on Maize Yield in a Ferralsol and a Nitisol Soil in Central Kenya

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Innovations as Key to the Green Revolution in Africa

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Abstract

Declining land productivity is a major problem facing smallholder farmers in Kenya today. This decline primarily results from a reduction in soil fertility caused by continuous cultivation without adequate addition of external nutrient inputs. Improved fertility management combining organic and mineral fertilizer inputs can enable efficient use of the inputs applied and increase overall system’s productivity. Field trials were established at three sites in distinct agro-ecological zones of central Kenya (one site at Machang’a and two sites at Mucwa with different soil fertility status) aiming to determine the effects of various organic sources (tithonia, lantana, mucuna, calliandra and manure) and combinations with mineral N fertilizer on maize grain yield during four consecutive seasons. In Machang’a site, sole manure recorded the highest maize grain yield across the four seasons. In Mucwa poor site, sole tithonia gave the highest maize grain yield during the four seasons, while in Mucwa good site, sole calliandra gave the highest maize grain yields. Generally, the maize grain yields were lower in the treatments with fertilizer alone compared to the treatments with organics across the three sites in the four seasons due to the poorly distributed rainfall. In Machang’a during the SR 2004 and SR 2005 seasons, the treatments with integration of organic and mineral fertilizer inputs were significantly higher than treatment with the sole organics; however, in Mucwa good and poor sites, generally the treatments with sole organics did better than the ones with integration of mineral N fertilizer and organics with the exception of the mucuna treatment which did significantly better in the integration compared to the sole application.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank VLIR and IFS for providing financial support for the field experimentation. They also appreciate the contribution and collaborative efforts by the Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute of CIAT (TSBF-CIAT), Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI) and Kenyatta University (Department of Environmental Sciences) in administering field activities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Sciences, School of Environmental Studies, Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya

    M. Mucheru-Muna, D.N. Mugendi & J.B. Kung’u

  2. Department of Agricultural Resource Management, School of Agriculture and Enterprise Development (SAED), Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya

    J. Mugwe

  3. Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute of the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (TSBF-CIAT), Nairobi, Kenya

    P. Pypers & B. Vanlauwe

  4. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 20, 3001, Heverlee, Belgium

    R. Merckx

Authors
  1. M. Mucheru-Muna
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  2. D.N. Mugendi
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  3. P. Pypers
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  4. J. Mugwe
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  5. B. Vanlauwe
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  6. R. Merckx
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  7. J.B. Kung’u
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. Mucheru-Muna .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Soil Health Program, Alliance for a Green Revolution in Afric, Agostino Neto Road, Airport Res. Area 6, Accra, Ghana

    Andre Bationo

  2. , African Network for Soil Biology and Fer, Tropical Soil Biology & Fertility Inst., c/o ICRAF, Off UN Avenue, Nairobi, 00100, Kenya

    Boaz Waswa

  3. , African network for Soil Biology and Fer, Tropical Soil Biology & Fertility Inst., c/o ICRAF, Off UN Avenue, Nairobi, 00100, Kenya

    Jeremiah M. Okeyo

  4. , Socio-economics and Biometrics, Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, Nairobi, 00800, Kenya

    Fredah Maina

  5. , African Network for Soil Biology and Fer, Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Inst, c/o ICRAF, Off UN Avenue, Nairobi, 00100, Kenya

    Job Maguta Kihara

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Mucheru-Muna, M. et al. (2011). Effect of Organic Inputs and Mineral Fertilizer on Maize Yield in a Ferralsol and a Nitisol Soil in Central Kenya. In: Bationo, A., Waswa, B., Okeyo, J., Maina, F., Kihara, J. (eds) Innovations as Key to the Green Revolution in Africa. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2543-2_18

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