Impacts of Fertilization Type on Soil Microbial Biomass and Nutrient Availability in Two Agroecological Zones of Ghana

Abstract

Abstract:The decline in soil productivity amidst efforts to increase crop yield in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) has made it imperative to assess the current fertilization management approaches. This study was conducted in two agroecological zones (i.e., Guinea Savannah (GS) and Deciduous forest (DF)) of Ghana to evaluate how different fertilization schemes in the long term (>5 years) impacted the soil biochemical properties. Soil samples under four fertilization schemes (inorganic fertilizer only, low-to-medium organic residues only, inorganic fertilizers plus low-to-medium organic residues, and no fertilization) from 20 farmers' field were sampled from March to April 2015. Soil biochemical quality indicators were determined using standard procedures. Overall, the average chemical and microbial biomass contents for most indicators were significantly higher in DF compared to GS. Relative to the reference sites, soil quality improvement were observed under inorganic fertilization in both agroecologies in contrast to significant soil deterioration (26.5%) under sole organic residue application in GS. Furthermore, the results showed that increased inorganic fertilization rate alone or combination with organic residues improved soil quality relative to the reference. The present results suggest the need to raise the current fertilizer application rates, especially in GS in order to enhance optimum soil productivity.

Temporal Impacts of Different Fertilization Systems on Soil Health under Arid Conditions of Potato Monocropping

“…Evidently, after artificial NPK or nanofertilizers, availability of nitrogen increased encouraging soil microbes to immobilize N leading to N mic increases. This was in agreement with the results of Wang et al (2008), and in disagreement with Omari et al (2017), they stated that the privilege of inorganic fertilization system, though applied at lower rates, was evident on soil biochemical properties relative to the reference sites where organic and integrated soil improvement approaches were applied. Soil respiration (SR) indicating CO 2 influx ranged from 22.70 to 40.44 μg CO 2 -C g −1 day −1 across all treatments being significantly greatest in organic and integrated treatments compared to inorganic treatments.…”

Exploring Farmers’ Indigenous Knowledge of Soil Quality and Fertility Management Practices in Selected Farming Communities of the Guinea Savannah Agro-Ecological Zone of Ghana

“…This supports an observation by Barrios et al [59], that a single indicator by farmers usually comprises an integration of multiple aspects of soil quality. Despite farmers' awareness of SOM on soil quality improvement, maintenance of SOM in practice was less common among farmers, as close to 20% of the visited farms had been subjected to severe burning, substantiating the menace of wildfire in northern Ghana [15,26].…”

“…Good soil management, which integrates the biological, chemical, and physical attributes, usually connote enhanced soil quality [14]. In many cases, there is a direct link between farmers' fertilization practices and the resultant effects on soil quality status [15]. The indicators of soil quality assessment commonly used are largely based on scientific methodologies.…”

Manejo nutricional integrado: herramienta clave para la agricultura sostenible

“…Sin el uso de FMs la producción mundial de alimentos disminuiría en 50% (Sarkadi et al, 2019), y se espera que el consumo mundial de N, P y K llegue a 199 Mt en 2023 (IFA, 2018). En suelos con bajos contenidos de C, N y P disponible, la aplicación de dosis racionales de FMs, mejoran la calidad del suelo (Omari et al, 2017).…”