Food production can be increased through the integration of organic and inorganic nutrient sources coupled with proper land management. Niger is one of the poorest countries in the Sahelian zone of West Africa where soil fertility and rainfall are the most limiting factors for crop production. The majority of the people in this region depend on subsistence agriculture for their livelihood. The population pressure has decreased the availability of arable land and the use of extended fallow periods to restore soil fertility is not possible.Research results have shown that yields can be increased up to five times with the improvement of soil fertility using a combination of soil tillage, organic and inorganic fertilizers than under traditional practice. Crop yields have also been shown to increase substantially using rotation of cereals with legume or intercropping. Yields of pearl millet can be doubled following cowpea as compared to continuous pearl millet cultivation. These combinations can improve soil properties such as Organic carbon content, Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) and pH.There is however a constraint to the applicability of combining inorganic and organic fertilizers due to the high costs of inorganic fertilizers and the low availability of organic fertilizers at the farm level. But it can be addressed by incorporating grain legume production such as cowpea into the cropping system. The grain, which has high market value, can be sold for buying external inputs such as fertilizer and fodder used for animal feeding. The use of external inputs will result in an increasing biomass at farm level, which increases the crop residue for mulching to mitigate land degradation and increase productivity

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A. Adamou et al. les interactions entre la fertilité des sols et les rendements de mil dans trois sites (Banizoumbou, Bengou et Karabedji) au Niger sur une périodes de 5 ans (2001-2005) et une simulation dans DSSAT sur l'azote.

In the drylands of Africa about 90% of the population is rural and depends on subsistence agriculture for their livelihoods. There is an increasing pressure on the natural resources due to the high population growth, and farmers are constrained to cultivate marginal lands, thereby compounding the land degradation problem. Low and erratic rainfall, its poor distribution within the growing season, prolonged dry spells, lack of adequate water supply due to soil physical degradation (soil crusting) and nutrient shortage adversely affect crop growth and yields. To address these problems, indigenous, easy to implement innovations such as the zai system may provide solutions to increase productivity. The effect of three planting techniques (Flat, zai pit of 25 cm and zai pit of 50 cm diameter) and three fertility management options (control, crop residue, cattle manure) were tested at Damari in 1999 in Niger. Soil water was monitored from weekly measurements using a Didcot

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