ABSTRACT Ghana discovered oil in 2007 at Cape Three Point in the Western Region. It experienced its first low-based mud oil spillage in 2009 and 2010. Ghana is therefore exposed to possible oil spillage due to oil production in commercial quantities. It is against this background that the present study is aimed to assess the degradation along the coast and identify hydrocarbon utilizing bacteria (HUB) associated with some beach soils. The beach soils were taken from eight coastal towns; Afla...
Abstract The relations between soil pore structure induced by tillage and infiltration play an important role in flow characteristics of water and solutes in soil. The effects of agricultural management practices on soil physical parameters aid the effective sustainability of soils. In this study, three tillage methods common to the study area on porosity and water infiltration were assessed. Tillage treatments include zero tillage (Plot covered with vegetation (conservation tillage)...
The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of land degradation on agricultural land use, planning and management in chongwe, Zambia and specifically determined farmers’ considerations of land suitability for selected types of agricultural land uses in varying cropping zones, investigated farmers’ local environmental knowledge of land degradation indicators and finally documented farmers’ land management strategies and practices for soil and sustainable Agricultural conservatio...
Agricultural sector in Kenya, contributes with 25% on GDP, yet this sector is far to supply adequate food for an increasing population due to declining soil productivity. Soybean (Glycine max L. Merrill) is relatively new crop being introduced in smallholders farming system in the Central Highlands of Kenya as source of nutrition, income generation and soil fertility improvement. However, the crop yields are below the national average. Soil acidity and depletion of nutrients affect negatively...
Soil acidity is widespread globally, accounting for about 40% of total arable soils. In Kenya, acid soils cover about 13% of total land area and are distributed widely in the croplands of central and western Kenya regions, covering over one million hectares. The main limitation of crop productivity in Kavutiri, Embu, is soil acidity and more specifically aluminium toxicity. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of agricultural lime in combination with farmyard manure (FYM)...
Agriculture is the major engine of Rwandese economy, accounting for about 40% of the GDP, 85% of employment and 80% of exports. Known as “meat for the poor”, beans constitute a predominant source of proteins in Rwandese diet since they supply 65% of national dietary proteins compared to 4% from animal sources. However, the on-farm bean productivity is about 0.8 – 1.0 tons/ hectare which is quite low compared to 5 tons/hectare that is achieved under optimal management conditions. The...
Reduced farm productivity in smallholder farms is the principal cause of food insecurity in semi- arid parts of Kenya. This is mainly attributed to soil fertility depletion, land degradation, low soil moisture and climate change. Climate change due to increased carbon dioxideemission into the atmosphere has impacted negatively on the food productivity in Africa. The objectives of this study were: 1) to determine the effect of different organic residues on soil carbon accumulation in soil. 2)...
ABSTRACT As climate change continues to threaten ecosystems’ functions, agriculture remains one of the major source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that are responsible for global warming. The major GHG in agriculture are; carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4). Unfortunately, agriculture is also one of the most affected sectors by climate change. There is therefore need to reduce emissions by adopting agricultural practices with mitigation potential. This is by enha...
ABSTRACT Soybean (Glycine max L. Merril) productivity in Kenya is adversely affected by low yield, poor fertilizer use, ineffective inoculation, and soil fertility management constraints. The empirical understanding of the interaction between native soil rhizobia, inoculation, nitrogen fixation, soil fertility management practices and how these factors influence soybean productivity is insufficient. The general objective of this study was to investigate the effect of rhizobium inoculation an...
Agriculture in Rwanda is today characterized by low agricultural productivity due to soil fertility decline. This is mainly attributed to the mining of nutrients due to continuous cropping without adequate external addition of inputs. The adoption of Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) technologies such as the combination of organic manure and mineral fertilizers is being taken as one of solutions to this situation. A study was therefore, conducted to investigate the effects of f...
ABSTRACT In South Kivu Eastern of DR.Congo, most soils are highly weathered, leached and have low nutrients content resulting to low agricultural productivity. The objectives of the study was (i)to evaluate the effect of combining rhizobia inoculation and different fertilizer amendment on biomass and grain yields,(ii) to assess the nitrogen fixation efficacy of commercial rhizobia strains and (iii) to assess the effect of combining rhizobia inoculation and different fertilizer amendments on s...
A BST RA CT Green house experiment was conducted to study the effects of organic manure, lime and inorganic fertilizer on the nodulation and growth of Soybean (Glycine max(L) merrill) on an acid ultisol in southeastern Nigeria. The organic manure was poultry manure, the lime was commercial lime and the inorganic fertilizer was NPK(15 : 15: 15). There were 7 treatments and a control. The treatments were 100kg/ha inorganic fertilizer (NPK 15: 15: 15)(F1 );200kglhainorganicfertilizcr(NPK 1...
ABSTRACT Reduced food productivity in smallholder farms is the principal cause of food insecurity in semi-arid parts of Kenya. This is mainly attributed to decline in soil fertility, low and unreliable rainfall, land degradation and adverse effects of climate change. The solution lies in the efficient use of nutrients and planting of drought tolerant crop varieties that can cope with the low rainfall in the ASALs. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of FYM, mineral fertilizers a...
ABSTRACT Low crop responses to fertilizer application among small holder farms are common phenomena in degraded acidic soils of western Kenya. Continuous growing of maize without commensurate soil nutrient replenishment coupled with application of soil acidifying fertilizers, especially Di-ammonium Phosphate (DAP) and Sulphate of ammonia (SA) have aggravated the soil acidity problem. An on-farm trial was sited in Shianda sub-location, East Wanga division in Mumias district, Western province, ...
ABSTRACT Mozambique lags behind all other Southern and Eastern African countries in maize production leading to maize imports. Soil nutrient depletion, lack of combination of organic resources with mineral resources coupled with high soil acidity has been identified as the main causes of the declining crop yields. Maize yield in smallholder systems in central Mozambique can be increased by optimum utilization of mineral fertilizers combined with cattle manure and other locally available organ...