Nutrient flows and balances at the field and farm scale: Exploring effects of land-use strategies and access to resources

Haileslassie, Amare; Priess, Joerg A.; Veldkamp, Edzo; Lesschen, J.P.

doi:10.1016/j.agsy.2006.11.013

Cited by 59 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Table 3 shows that farmers did not target particular fields for cotton production, and therefore both home-and outfields beneficiated from the relatively higher fertiliser rates applied to cotton compared to other crops. A similar trend of increasing soil fertility from homefields to outfields has also been reported in the East African Highlands in Ethiopia (Haileslassie et al 2007). Therefore, the influence of population density on resource management and consequent effects on soil fertility variability is important, in addition to farmer resource endowment and socio-economic conditions, in order to understand soil fertility spatial variability in the smallholder areas of sub Saharan Africa.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 49%

“…Farmers typically apply most nutrient resources to fields closest to homesteads and manage these fields better, and this has led to the establishment of gradients of decreasing soil fertility from the homestead to distant fields in some cropping systems (Tittonell et al 2005). However, gradients of increasing soil fertility from homefields to outfields have also been reported in the Central Highlands of Ethiopia (Haileslassie et al 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effect of farmer management strategies on spatial variability of soil fertility and crop nutrient uptake in contrasting agro-ecological zones in Zimbabwe

Masvaya

Nyamangara

Nyawasha

et al. 2009

Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst

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Variability of soil fertility within, and across farms, poses a major challenge for increasing crop productivity in smallholder systems of subSaharan Africa. This study assessed the effect of farmers' resource endowment and nutrient management strategies on variability in soil fertility and plant nutrient uptake between different fields in Gokwe South (ave. rainfall *650 mm year -1 ; 16.3 persons km -2 ) and Murewa (ave. rainfall *850 mm year -1 ; 44.1 persons km -2 ) districts, Zimbabwe. In Murewa, resource-endowed farmers applied manure ([3.5 t ha -1 year -1 ) on fields closest to their homesteads (homefields) and none to fields further away (outfields). In Gokwe the manure was not targeted to any particular field, and farmers quickly abandoned outfields and opened up new fields further way from the homestead once fertility had declined, but homefields were continually cultivated. Soil available P was higher in homefields (8-13 mg kg -1 ) of resource-endowed farmers than on outfields and all fields on resource constrained farms (2-6 mg kg -1 ) in Murewa. Soil fertility decreased with increasing distance from the homestead in Murewa while the reverse trend occurred in Gokwe South, indicating the impact of different soil fertility management strategies on spatial soil fertility gradients. In both districts, maize showed deficiency of N and P, implying that these were the most limiting nutrients. It was concluded that besides farmers' access to resources, the direction of soil fertility gradients also depends on agro-ecological conditions which influence resource management strategies.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 49%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of farmer management strategies on spatial variability of soil fertility and crop nutrient uptake in contrasting agro-ecological zones in Zimbabwe

Masvaya

Nyamangara

Nyawasha

et al. 2009

Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst

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“…A possible improvement in estimating the amount of nitrogen lost through leaching would be to use more advanced models such as De Willigen (2000) regression model. This model has been used by a number of studies including FAO (Roy et al 2003), Smaling et al (2008) in the Brazilian soybean agriculture study, Haileslassie et al (2007) in the nutrient flows and balance study in the central highland of Ethiopia, and Lesschen et al (2007) in the soil nutrient balance study in Burkina Faso. Most recently, have shown the application of the model in a highresolution assessment of global nitrogen flows in cropland.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A global and high-resolution assessment of the green, blue and grey water footprint of wheat

Mekonnen

Hoekstra

2010

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

336

206

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Abstract. The aim of this study is to estimate the green, blue and grey water footprint of wheat in a spatially-explicit way, both from a production and consumption perspective. The assessment is global and improves upon earlier research by taking a high-resolution approach, estimating the water footprint of the crop at a 5 by 5 arc minute grid. We have used a grid-based dynamic water balance model to calculate crop water use over time, with a time step of one day. The model takes into account the daily soil water balance and climatic conditions for each grid cell. In addition, the water pollution associated with the use of nitrogen fertilizer in wheat production is estimated for each grid cell. We have used the water footprint and virtual water flow assessment framework as in the guideline of the Water Footprint Network.The global wheat production in the period 1996-2005 required about 108 billion cubic meters of water per year. The major portion of this water (70%) comes from green water, about 19% comes from blue water, and the remaining 11% is grey water. The global average water footprint of wheat per ton of crop was 1830 m 3 /ton. About 18% of the water footprint related to the production of wheat is meant not for domestic consumption but for export. About 55% of the virtual water export comes from the USA, Canada and Australia alone. For the period 1996-2005, the global average water saving from international trade in wheat products was 65 Gm 3 /yr.A relatively large total blue water footprint as a result of wheat production is observed in the Ganges and Indus river basins, which are known for their water stress problems. The two basins alone account for about 47% of the blue water footprint related to global wheat production. About 93% of the water footprint of wheat consumption in Japan lies in other countries, particularly the USA, Australia and Canada.Correspondence to: M. M. Mekonnen (m.m.mekonnen@ctw.utwente.nl) In Italy, with an average wheat consumption of 150 kg/yr per person, more than two times the word average, about 44% of the total water footprint related to this wheat consumption lies outside Italy. The major part of this external water footprint of Italy lies in France and the USA.

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“…We tried to relate soil nutrient balances to farm and farmer characteristics like size of the farm, age and education level of the household head etc., but could not find convincing relations. Contrarily, Haileslassie et al (2007) found that environmental conditions, farming systems (e.g. crop selection), access to resources (e.g.…”

Section: Data Variabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil nutrient balances under diverse agro-ecological settings in Ethiopia

Beek

Elias

Yihenew

et al. 2016

Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst

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Soil fertility is one of the main constraints to agricultural intensification in Ethiopia. Like in many East African countries, nutrient depletion rates are exacerbated in Ethiopia by high erosion rates, biomass and animal manure removal from farm plots and limited application of mineral and organic fertilizers. In this paper, soil nutrient balances at plot level were calculated for 350 farms spread across the high potential highlands of Ethiopia. The nutrient input flows and output flows were monitored over a period of 3 years (2012-2014) using the monitoring for quality improvement toolbox. Average nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) balances were -23 ± 73, 9 ± 29 and -7 ± 64 kg ha -1 , respectively. The situation was most severe for N, where average depletion rate was 0.2 % of the soil total N stock per year, which equals about 4.2 % of the available soil N pool. Depletion rates were highest in the relative intensive farming systems in mountainous areas located in the central and southern parts of Ethiopia. Nutrient depletion rates increased in time with 13, 3 and 10 kg ha -1 year -1 , respectively for N, P and K during the monitoring period. The Ethiopian government responds to the on-going, and worsening, soil nutrient depletion by stimulating the use of mineral fertilizers. We conclude that the current efforts on increased inputs of mineral fertilizers are a step in the good direction, but to really halt and reverse soil fertility decline, organic fertilizer application and soil and water conservation should be an integral part of the intervention strategy.

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Nutrient flows and balances at the field and farm scale: Exploring effects of land-use strategies and access to resources

Cited by 59 publications

References 20 publications

Effect of farmer management strategies on spatial variability of soil fertility and crop nutrient uptake in contrasting agro-ecological zones in Zimbabwe

Effect of farmer management strategies on spatial variability of soil fertility and crop nutrient uptake in contrasting agro-ecological zones in Zimbabwe

A global and high-resolution assessment of the green, blue and grey water footprint of wheat

Soil nutrient balances under diverse agro-ecological settings in Ethiopia

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