Abstract: Integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) technologies hold potential to protect against climate risks, reduce nutrient depletion and enhance food security. In this paper, we study how exposure to dry spells influences use and use intensity of ISFM technologies, specifically focusing on maize-legume intercropping and organic manure. We use a four-round panel dataset collected from households in six Malawi districts over a period of nine years and merged with daily rainfall data f...
Abstract: Abstract Purpose Push–pull is an intercropping technology that is rapidly spreading among smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa. The technology intercrops cereals with Desmodium to fight off stem borers, eliminate parasitic weeds, and improve soil fertility and yields of cereals. The above-ground components of push–pull cropping have been well investigated. However, the impact of the technol-ogy on the soil microbiome and the subsequent role of the microbiome on diverse eco...
ABSTRACT Recognition of high yielding and nitrogen (N) fixing groundnut genotypes and desegregating them in the cereal-based cropping systems common in savannah regions will enhance food security and reduce the need for high N fertilizers hence, minimize the high cost and associated environmental consequences. Field trials were conducted during the 2015 growing season at the Research Farms of Bayero University Kano (BUK) and Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), Ahmadu Bello Univer...
ABSTRACT One of the main reasons for the loss of productive land in irrigated fields is the buildup of salinity in the soil. In the watari irrigation Scheme, no systematic appraisal and mapping have been made before within the sector. The study area was selected after a reconnaissance survey based on the farmer's complaint about the low production. Global positioning system (GPS) was used to record the coordinate, and delineate the boundary of the study site. The coordinates of the delinea...
Background and Objective: Aquic Arenic Paleudults soils are developed at valley bottom of a basement complex parent material of the sub-humid tropical rainforest. The aim of the study was to determine the mineralogy of clay components of Aquic Arenic Paleudults soils of Akpamkpa, Southeastern Nigeria. Materials and Methods: The study mineralogy of clay components of Aquic Arenic Paleudults soils of Akamkpa, southeastern Nigeria was carried out on 50 hectare land. Two soils were collected fro...
In precision Agriculture, geostatistical methods as a predictive tool have been extensively utilized. The approach estimates soil properties spatial variability and dependency. This study was carried out in Ovia north east Local Government Area of Edo State of Nigeria in order to map soil properties (Sand, Clay, pH, OC, P, N and CEC) and predict their spatial variability. Twenty-nine (29) soil samples were collected randomly from Typic Kandiudults soil type under three different land use, tea...
This study evaluates the fertility of small scale farmers’ field in Ijumu Area of Kogi State. The area lies within the Southern Guinea Savannah zone of Nigeria. The study area is having three districts; Ijumu Oke, Ijumu Arin and Gbedde. 60 farmers were identified through the Agricultural Development Agency and questionnaires were administered to them to identify soil management practices and problems among the farmers. Soil samples were collected from three farmers’ field, one farme...
Land evaluation, characterization and classification of soil for the proposed oil palm plantation in Ekpri Ibami, Akamkpa Local Government Area, Nigeria was conducted on 50 ha of land using a combination of both conventional and digital survey methods. The objective of the research was to characterize, classify and evaluate the land for the proposed oil palm production. Three soil mapping units were identified (EKP I, EKP II and EKP III) and representative profile pits were du...
A field experiment was conducted at the University of Calabar Teaching and Research Farm toevaluate the effects of neem-based organic fertilizer, NPK and their combinations on soil chemicalproperties and growth of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) on a degraded Ultisol Calabar. Theexperiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications comprising ofsix treatments. The treatments were control (no amendment), sole NPK 20:10:10 fertilizer andneem–based organic fertili...
A field study of the status and distribution of available soil micronutrients along a hillslope of EkpriIbami was carried out on a 50 ha land. The aim of the study is to evaluate the micronutrient status anddistribution and their relationship with some selected soil properties. A total of 16 soil samples werecollected from each pedogenic horizons of four profile pits dug along a hillslope classified as upperslope, middle slope, lower slope and valley bottom. The micronutrients determined in t...
The study deals with the interaction between some soil physicochemical properties and weather variables on sub-humid tropical rainforest soils of Cross River State, Southeastern Nigeria. The study aims to determine the interactions between soil properties and weather variables of three land uses occurring on the tropical sandy soils. Soil samples were obtained from 10,000 m2 of UNICAL Teaching and Research farm (Arable farm), Oil palm plantation and Forestry Teaching and Research farm (F...