Ecological Engineering for Sustainable Food Production and the Restoration of Degraded Watersheds in Tropics of Low pH Soils: Focus on West Africa

Wakatsuki, Toshiyuki; Masunaga, Tsugiyuki

doi:10.1111/j.1747-0765.2005.tb00079.x

Cited by 34 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…The superiority of sawah over non-sawah for a profitable rice production in terms of nutrient reserve has earlier been highlighted Ganawa et al 2003;Wakatsuki and Masunaga 2005). Apart from EA, which differed significantly with amendments in the second year of planting, there was no significant difference between the non-sawah and sawah management.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 77%

“…Therefore, the paddy field is almost equivalent to the sawah for the Asian scientist and to avoid confusion used the term sawah to distinguish rice grain with husk, rice field and rice plant. Sawah, then according to Wakatsuki and Masunaga (2005), is a multifunctional constructed wetland, which is the prerequisite for realizing the objectives of the green revolution as well as maintaining a sustainable ecological environment. This kind of farming system is not common in West Africa and especially in southeastern Nigeria, which traditionally are used to mounds and ridges construction for root crop production.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluation of sawah rice management system in an inland valley in southeastern Nigeria. I: Soil chemical properties and rice yield

Nwite

Igwe

Wakatsuki

2008

Paddy Water Environ

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Failures in agricultural development in parts of West Africa may have been caused by the inability of the farmers to develop the abundant inland valleys for cultivation of such crops like rice, using appropriate water management systems. An inland valley in southeastern Nigeria was used to evaluate the influence of sawah and non-sawah water management using inorganic and organic soil amendments on the soil chemical properties and rice grain yield. Soil chemical properties tested were soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, pH, exchangeable K + , Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ . Others were CEC, percent base saturation and exchangeable acidity while the grain yield of rice was also measured. The soils are loose, low in pH and poor in plant nutrient elements. In spite of that, the sawah-managed system was able to improve the pH of the soil by raising it slightly both in the first and second year of planting. Generally, essential plant nutrients such as exchangeable K + , Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ , including fertility index like the CEC, were improved within sawah management within the period. Also, rice grain yield increased significantly (5.62 and 6.25 tons/ha in the first year and 5.32 and 6.53 tons/ha in the second year for non-sawah and sawah, respectively) with sawah system such that about 11 and 23% yield increases were obtained in sawah over the non-sawah in the two years, respectively. Although organic carbon can be used to explain the variation in total grain yield in the first year, it was the CEC that explained the total grain yield in the second year. The study revealed the superiority of sawah over non-sawah in the production of lowland rice in an inland valley in southeastern Nigeria.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 77%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of sawah rice management system in an inland valley in southeastern Nigeria. I: Soil chemical properties and rice yield

Nwite

Igwe

Wakatsuki

2008

Paddy Water Environ

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“…The fertility parameters also show that the soils in the West African lowlands are much less fertile than those of Amazon River systems 46 . These results indicate that soil fertility of the West African lowlands is the lowest among the three major tropical regions in the world 9,22,49 . The principal reason for the poor soil characteristics in West Africa is that the major soils in that area are derived from coarse-textured and acidic parent rocks (mainly granite) and have weathered under a tropical climate over millions of years 29,48,55 .…”

Section: Study Area and Soil Samplesmentioning

confidence: 78%

Soil Fertility Potential for Rice Production in West African Lowlands

Abe

Buri²,

Issaka³

et al. 2010

JARQ

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In this paper, we review the soil fertility characteristics and the nature of material in the West African lowlands in comparison with paddy soils in tropical Asia to examine their potential for rice cultivation. Soil samples collected from major lowland ecosystems, i.e., inland valleys (185 locations) and flood plains (62 locations), in 13 countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Niger, Nigeria, Liberia, Mali, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo) generally show low values of pH, total C and N, available (Bary-2) P, exchangeable Ca and Mg, effective cation exchange capacity (ECEC), and clay content. These properties of the 87 topsoil samples selected from 247 collected samples are well associated with mineralogical composition. The clay and primary minerals predominantly consist of kaolinite and quartz, respectively, which suggests that the lowland soils in the region have low nutrient-holding capacity and a limited potential for inherent nutrient supply. In general, soil pH, available P, exchangeable bases (Ca, Mg, K, and Na), and ECEC decrease while total C, total N and exchange acidity (Al and H) increase with increasing rainfall. This tendency is mostly explained by the enhanced biomass production and soil weathering sequence governed by the climate. In terms of rice production, the lowland soils in West Africa have lower values of general fertility parameters and poorer mineralogical characteristics compared to paddy soils in tropical Asia, which includes Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. In addition, deficit levels of S and Zn for rice production are widely observed in the lowland soils in West Africa. These findings suggest that soil fertility characteristics show substantially less potential for rice production in West Africa than in tropical Asia.Discipline: Soils, fertilizers and plant nutrition Additional key words: agro-ecological zones, flood plains, inland valleys, mineralogical composition, sulfur and zinc deficiencyThe present paper is a joint contribution from the projects 'Development of Sustainable Rice Farming Systems in Low Activity Clay

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“…Erenstein et al (2006) attempted to understand drivers of lowland use around four West African urban centers. Wakatsuki and Masunaga (2005) described how use of the ''sawah'' technique can help unlock the potential of inland valleys in West Africa. Issaka et al (2009) identified change in rice production resulting from introduction of the sawah technique (leveled, bunded and puddled rice fields with water inlets and outlets) on experimental sites in Ghana, and Fasholo et al (2009) and Nwite et al (2008) examined similar issues in Nigeria.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of small built infrastructure in inland valleys in Burkina Faso and Mali: Rationale for a systems approach that thinks beyond rice?

Katic

Lautze

Namara

2014

Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts A/B/C

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Ecological Engineering for Sustainable Food Production and the Restoration of Degraded Watersheds in Tropics of Low pH Soils: Focus on West Africa

Cited by 34 publications

References 12 publications

Evaluation of sawah rice management system in an inland valley in southeastern Nigeria. I: Soil chemical properties and rice yield

Evaluation of sawah rice management system in an inland valley in southeastern Nigeria. I: Soil chemical properties and rice yield

Soil Fertility Potential for Rice Production in West African Lowlands

Impacts of small built infrastructure in inland valleys in Burkina Faso and Mali: Rationale for a systems approach that thinks beyond rice?

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