Fertilizer response and nitrogen use efficiency in African smallholder maize farms

Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems
Stephen M IchamiEllis Hoffland

Abstract

Improving fertilizer recommendations for farmers is essential to increase food security in smallholder landscapes. Currently, blanket recommendations are provided across agro-ecological zones, although fertilizer response and nutrient use efficiency by maize crop are spatially variable. We aimed to identify factors that could help to refine fertilizer recommendation by analyzing the variability in fertilizer response (FR) and the agronomic nitrogen use efficiency (N-AE). A literature search for on-farm studies across Kenya and Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA), excluding Kenya, yielded 71 publications. The variability in FR was studied using a meta-analysis whereas key factors that influence FR and N-AE were studied with linear regression models. On average, the FR was 2, but it varied considerably from 1 to 28.5 (excluding outliers). In SSA, 18% of the plots were non-responsive plots with an FR < 1. The main factors affecting N-AE for Kenya were P-Olsen, silt content, soil pH, clay and rainfall, whereas only soil pH, exchangeable K and texture were important for SSA. However, our study indicates that available data on soil, climate and management factors could explain only a small part (< 33%) of the variation in FR and N-AE. Soil pH, P...Continue Reading

References

Aug 30, 1994·Statistics in Medicine·H K Brown, R A Kempton
Mar 24, 2000·Journal of Clinical Epidemiology·A Thornton, P Lee
Jun 21, 2006·Psychological Methods·Tania B Huedo-MedinaJuan Botella
May 12, 2007·Statistics in Medicine·K Jack IshakJames A Hanley
Jan 10, 2013·The British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology·José Antonio López-LópezWolfgang Viechtbauer
Jul 11, 2013·PloS One·Deepak K RayJonathan A Foley
Aug 5, 2016·Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment·Job KiharaJeroen Huising

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