One of the most important challenges to continuously maximize crop production on limited areas of agricultural land is to maintain or enhance soil fertility. Organic fertilizer application is needed to replace nutrient removed by crop from the fields in order to restore crop production potential of a soil. But application of organic fertilizer alone insufficiently increases crop yield per area because the nutrient content of organic fertilizer is unbalanced. A trial was conducted in the Lubumbashi region to investigate the combined effects of mineral fertilizer and chicken manure application on the balance of minerals and maize yield. Three mineral fertilizer doses (0 kg NPK+0 kg urea, 150 kg NPK+100 kg urea, 300 kg NPK+200 kg urea) and four chicken manure quantities (0, 1.75, 3.5, 7 t haG 1 ) have been tried. The combination of these factors gave a total of 12 treatments. According to obtained results nitrogen and phosphorus content before maize sowing is higher than those obtained after flowering. The present work confirms that integrated application of chicken manure and mineral fertilizers is more effective in increasing nutrient availability and maize performance than mineral or organic fertilizer applied alone. In contrast, applied doses of chicken manure have not improved soil nutriment balance sheet. Combined with the low dose of mineral fertilizers (150 kg NPK+100 kg urea), the amount of 7 t haG 1 of chicken manure resulted a better yield increase, which corresponds to 46% compared to the control, of which 16% only are due to mineral fertilizer application.

Effects of increasing doses of compost on the performance of Chinese cabbage (Brassica chinensis L.) installed on an acid soil of Lubumbashi Objective: A study was conducted on a ferralsol to assess the agronomic efficiency of manure from chickens and mineral fertilizers (NPK and urea) on the yield of Chinese cabbage. Methodology and Results: The experimental design was a completely randomized with six repetitions and six treatments: T0 (unfertilized control), T1 (175 kg NPK +87 kg urea per hectare), T2 (350 kg NPK+47.5 kg Urea per hectare), T3 (15 t.ha-1 manure of chicken compost), T4 (30 t.ha-1 manure of chicken compost), T5 (60 t.ha-1 manure of chicken compost). Manure of chicken, NPK and urea were incorporated into the soil, respectively, a week before the day of transplantation and 3 weeks after transplantation. Highly significant differences (p < 0.05) were found between treatments in terms of growth and yield of Chinese cabbage corn with yields ranging from 1.4 to 5.1 t.ha-1 , the treatments T2 and T5 which gave similar yields and the highest and lowest T0 treatment. Conclusion and application: With reference to yields and agronomic efficiency, doses of manure at 15 t.ha-1 agree to address any use of mineral inputs. However, due to the low availability of manure nutrients, a mineral fertilizer supplement is recommended. The study showed that chicken manure under the conditions of this trial was a great potential for improving the availability of nutrients in soil and was able to provide the amount of nutrients needed to growing Chinese cabbage without the addition of mineral fertilizers.

A Kolwezi, les sols sont généralement de texture sableu se Leurs richesse s chimique s se situe nt à un niveau très bas pour tous les éléments nutritifs avec une incidence directe sur les rend ements des cultures. Afin d’évaluer l’impact du compost ménager sur la restauration de la fertilité des sols maraîchers de Kolwezi, un essai conduit en split plot avec deux variétés de tomate (Tanya et Tengeru) et trois doses (20, 25 et 30 t.ha-1 ) de compo st ménager appliquées seules et/ou combinées à 250 kg ha-1 de NPK en comparaison d’un témoin sans fertilisation a été installé dans deux sites maraîchers (Musompo et Mwangeji). Les déchets collectés auprès de 100 ménages ont été triés et pesés en vue de dé terminer la composition physique d’une poubelle et la part biodégradable a été compostée. Pour renseigner la valeur agronomique du compost l’analyse chimique a été effectuée. De cette étude, il a été révélé qu’en moyenne, une poubelle à Kolwezi est compos ée de plus de 50 % de déchets dégradables dont le compost qui en est issu est un réservoir de N, P, K et autres éléments indispensables à la culture Appliquées sur un sol perçu pauvre et confirmé par les analyses chimiques, les doses de compost améliorent la fertilité de sol consécutivement le rendement de la tomate . 11,4 t.ha 1 contre 11,7 t.ha 1 obtenu respectivement aux apports de 30 t.ha-1 de compost et 30 t.ha-1 + 250 kg.ha 1 de NPK, suppose que le compost issu des déchets ménag er s serait utilisé en l égume cult u re sans êtr e combiner aux engrais minéraux L ’application supplémentaire de 250 kg NPK induit in évitablement une baisse de la profi tabilité ainsi , 20 t.ha-1 de compost est recommand able L’analyse microbienne et l’usage de compost ménager sur l es légumes feuilles seraient une seconde phase de l’étude.Mots clés : Compost de d échet ménager, restauration de sol , gestion, Kolwezi.   English Title: Effects of household composts on soil properties and productivity of  vegetable crops: The case of tomato (<i> Lycopersicon esculentum </i>Mill)In Kolwezi, the soils are generally sandy in texture. Their chemical richness is at a very low level for all nutrients with a direct impact on crop yields. In order to assess the impact of household compost on restoring the fertility of market garden soils in Kolwezi, a spl it plot trial with two tomato varieties (Tanya and Tengeru) and three doses (20, 25 and 30 t.ha-1) of household compost applied alone and/or combined with 250 kg ha-1 of NPK compared to a control without fertilizer was set up in two market garden sites (Musompo and Mwangeji). The waste collected from 100 households was sorted and weighed to determine the physical composition of a bin and the biodegradable part was composted. To inform the agronomic value of the compost, chemical analysis was carried out. From this study, it was revealed that on average, a bin in Kolwezi is composed of more than 50%  degradable waste, from which the compost that is produced is a reservoir of N, P, K and other elements essential for cultivation. Applied on a soil perceived as poor and confirmed by chemical analyses, the compost doses improve soil fertility as a result of the tomato yield. 11.4 t.ha-1 against 11.7 t.ha-1 obtained respectively with the inputs of 30 t.ha-1 of compost and 30 t.ha-1 + 250 kg.ha-1 of NPK, supposes that the compost from household waste would be used in legume-cultivation without being  combined with mineral fertilizers. The additional application of 250 kg NPK inevitably leads to a decrease in profitability, so 20 t.ha-1 of compost is recommended. Microbial analysis and the use of household compost on leafy vegetables would be a second phase of the study.Keywords: Household waste compost, soil restoration, market gardening, management, Kolwezi.

Mufind et al., J. Appl. Biosci. 2017 Réponse de huit variétés de haricot commun (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) à la fertilisation minérale dans la région de Kolwezi, Lualaba (RD Congo) 10894Journal of Applied Biosciences 111: 10894-10904 ISSN 1997-5902 Réponse de huit variétés de haricot commun (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) à la fertilisation minérale dans la région de Kolwezi, Lualaba (RD Congo) Response of eight varieties of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) to mineral fertilizers in the Kolwezi area, Lualaba (RD Congo) ABSTRACT Objective: This experiment was conducted to study the effect of chemical fertilizer and varieties on the yield and the profitability of the common bean in Kolwezi. Methodology and results : the field trial has been installed in Kolwezi, in a split plot design with three repetitions. The main factor included the variety (COD MLB 001, DC12496-50, HM 21-7, Jaune d'Uvira, K132, RWR 2245, UYOLE 96 and XAN 76) while the secondary factor, the fertilizer (NPK 10-20-10, Urée 46% N and KCl 50% K2O), was made up of two levels: no fertilization (0 kg of fertilizer ha -1 ) and fertilization (611 kg of fertilizers ha -1 ). The observations focused on yield parameters and profitability. The results showed that the common bean yield is influenced by the variety (the K 132 with a yield of 2378 kg ha -1 ), and the chemical fertilizer (784 kg ha -1 without fertilizer against 1304 kg ha -1 with fertilizer, or an increase of 66%). The study of the RVC (Ratio Value/Cost) shows that the use of chemical fertilizer to the common bean is generally less profitable, at the exception of the variety COD MLB 001 which gave an RVC equal to 2,1. Conclusion and Application of the results : the K 132 variety gave the best yield and can therefore be recommended to farmers of Kolwezi. However, the use of chemical fertilizer to the common bean can be made only with the COD MLB 001 variety. Furthermore, we will recommend research on the decreasing doses of fertilizer in order to determine the optimal dose for the seven varieties that have shown low profitability.

Genotype assessment across various environments is a basic condition for developing stable and superior genotypes for sustainable maize production in the South-East of the DR Congo. Therefore, this research’s objectives were to identify the performance of newly developed provitamin A maize genotypes in various environments, and to recommend high-performing and stable genotypes for broader adaptation. Eight provitamin A maize genotypes, including one commercial variety, were planted at three sites during two consecutive cropping seasons (2020/2021 and 2021/2022) forming six environments. All genotypes in six environments were planted in a randomized complete block design containing three replications. Two stability analysis approaches, GGE biplot and Eberhart and Russell method are widely used to identify high yielding and stable genotypes. The combined analysis of variance revealed that G and E as well as their interaction (GEI) have significantly affected the emergence rate, cob’s insertion height, days to anthesis and silking, cob length, cob grain weight and grain yield. Average grain yield varied from 8.30 t/ha for PVAH-7L to 9.41 t/ha for PVAH-1L. The Eberhart and Russell method and the CV identified PVAH-1L, PVAH-4L, PVAH-7L and PVAH-6L as the most stable genotypes, but could not reliably identify the high yielding genotypes. On the other hand, the GGE biplot reliably and graphically showed the stable and high-yielding genotypes (PVAH-1L > PVAH-6L) as well as the low-yielding genotypes (PVAH-7 > PVAH-4L). In additional, the GGE biplot showed that L’shi21 was the best test environment for selecting high performing and stable provitamin A maize genotype. The results of this study indicate that PVAH-1L and PVAH-6L are the stable, high-yielding provitamin A maize genotypes in the South-East of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and should be disseminated in this region.