Can organic fertilizers set the pace for a greener arable agricultural revolution in Africa? Analysis, synthesis and way forward

Epule, Epule Terence; Bryant, Christopher; Akkari, Chérine; Daouda, Oumarou

doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2015.01.033

Cited by 32 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…A limitation of financial assets is that it tends to show higher rates of poverty than reality, and it is hard to translate income into health or educational expenses [76]. Physical assets such as farm to market roads may determine how fast a community responds to hazards, as seen in the degree of rapidity with which relief or external support gets to the affected communities [32,56,68,69]. The level of education (human asset) does affect the ability to understand climate change-related information [89].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vulnerability of Maize Yields to Droughts in Uganda

Epule

Ford

Lwasa

et al. 2017

Water

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Climate projections in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) forecast an increase in the intensity and frequency of droughts with implications for maize production. While studies have examined how maize might be affected at the continental level, there have been few national or sub-national studies of vulnerability. We develop a vulnerability index that combines sensitivity, exposure and adaptive capacity and that integrates agroecological, climatic and socio-economic variables to evaluate the national and spatial pattern of maize yield vulnerability to droughts in Uganda. The results show that maize yields in the north of Uganda are more vulnerable to droughts than in the south and nationally. Adaptive capacity is higher in the south of the country than in the north. Maize yields also record higher levels of sensitivity and exposure in the north of Uganda than in the south. Latitudinally, it is observed that maize yields in Uganda tend to record higher levels of vulnerability, exposure and sensitivity towards higher latitudes, while in contrast, the adaptive capacity of maize yields is higher towards the lower latitudes. In addition to lower precipitation levels in the north of the country, these observations can also be explained by poor soil quality in most of the north and socio-economic proxies, such as, higher poverty and lower literacy rates in the north of Uganda.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vulnerability of Maize Yields to Droughts in Uganda

Epule

Ford

Lwasa

et al. 2017

Water

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“…Non-application of animal manures with the monoculture of rice could be the cause of the very low levels of micronutrients such as B, S and Mg, as shown by Castellanos-Navarrete et al (2015), Rufino et al (2007), and Schulz et al (2011). Since organic fertilisers could offer an affordable and good alternative to the more expensive mineral fertilisers (Marenya et al 2012;Epule et al 2015), future development and extension efforts to raise awareness and demonstrate the options and effects of the use of organic soil amendments would be a valuable investment in this area. In the case of weed control, all farmers found that the application of herbicides is easy to do and most of them (78% in 2013 and 83% in 2014) preferred this mode of weed control (Table 7).…”

Section: Farmers' Opinions Of Gap Component Technologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increasing paddy yields and improving farm management: results from participatory experiments with good agricultural practices (GAP) in Tanzania

Senthilkumar¹,

Tesha²,

Mghase³

et al. 2018

Paddy Water Environ

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Rice is an increasingly important commodity in sub-Saharan Africa. In Tanzania, the rice yield gap is as high as 87%, due to a combination of production constraints and sub-optimal crop management. Reducing this yield gap may be partly achieved through the introduction and dissemination of good agricultural practices (GAP). We conducted 18 farmer-managed onfarm trials in Tanzania, to test a set of GAP components against conventional farmers' practices (FP) for two consecutive growing seasons in 2013 and 2014. The objectives were: (1) to understand farmers' capabilities in implementing GAP; (2) to acquire better insights into the merits, relevance and suitability of individual GAP components; and (3) to provide a case study showing that exposure to good practices combined with the farmers' own experimentations can serve to improve and, trigger a positive change in the participating farmers' crop management. Compared to the farmers' own practices, average yield increases of 1 t paddy ha −1 in 2013 and 2.7 t ha −1 in 2014 were achieved when following GAP. These yield advantages were mainly obtained by a higher panicle number, improved harvest index and improved weed control. Farmers experienced difficulties with land levelling, planting or sowing in lines and using rotary weeders, but they were convinced that these technologies are important to boost their rice yields. The case of Tanzania shows that paddy yields can be substantially improved by GAP and that adoption of GAP by smallholder rice farmers can be triggered by stimulating experimentations with such practices on their own farms.

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“…Despite having the fastest growing population and the highest soil depletion rates in the world, farmers in Sub Saharan African (SSA) countries have the lowest global fertilizer use of less than 10 kg ha −1 [1]. This is mainly a result of high prices associated with acquiring these fertilizers [2]. It is 2 of 15 highly likely that the reduction of the fertilizer prices could increase their usage and, hence, improve the yields of staple food crops like cereals [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative Performance of Organic Fertilizers in Maize (Zea mays L.) Growth, Yield, and Economic Results

et al. 2020

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Maize is a major crop grown and consumed in Uganda and it requires a high fertilizer input. However, the existing inorganic fertilizers in the market are often not affordable especially to small scale farmers, which results in decreased maize yields in the country. On the other hand, there is an abundance of unutilized animal manure, which, when treated, can be used to increase maize yields. This study evaluated the response of maize to products of different cattle manure treatment methods as well as inorganic fertilizer. The treatments such as cattle manure stored under shade (T), cattle manure stored in the open (M), cattle manure slurry digestate (S), vermicompost (V), and an inorganic fertilizer, DAP (D) were all applied in completely randomized block plots at an equal application rate of 50 kg N ha−1 with four replications per treatment. Control plots (C) where no fertilizer was applied were also considered. The experiment was done for two planting seasons in 2018. Number of leaves, plant height, cob, and grain yields were used to evaluate the performance of different fertilizer treatments. Economic assessment of all the six treatments was also carried out to determine the economic viability of applying these fertilizers on maize. Maize growth parameters and yields were all significantly increased (p < 0.05) with an application of both organic and inorganic fertilizers when compared with the control. However, there was no significant difference (p > 0.05) in the maize yields under the different fertilizer treatments. Vermicomposting was the most economically viable manure treatment method due to low operating costs and higher returns on investment that are supplemented with the production of chicken fodder (earthworm biomass) and, thus, can be recommended to farmers for production of a fertilizer that increases maize yields with assurance of economic returns.

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Can organic fertilizers set the pace for a greener arable agricultural revolution in Africa? Analysis, synthesis and way forward

Cited by 32 publications

References 31 publications

Vulnerability of Maize Yields to Droughts in Uganda

Vulnerability of Maize Yields to Droughts in Uganda

Increasing paddy yields and improving farm management: results from participatory experiments with good agricultural practices (GAP) in Tanzania

Comparative Performance of Organic Fertilizers in Maize (Zea mays L.) Growth, Yield, and Economic Results

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