A new benchmark analysis of nutrient omission trial data provides new guidance on the predictors of yield in smallholder maize and rice cropping systems in sub-Saharan Africa.
A new benchmark analysis of nutrient omission trial data provides new guidance on the predictors of yield in smallholder maize and rice cropping systems in sub-Saharan Africa.
Efforts to improve the yields of staple cereal crops like maize and rice at scale in Africa remain seriously hampered by the effects of poor soil fertility. The lack of adequate information to base an effective fertilizer recommendation upon often results in inefficient nutrient use by crops and low crop yields. A root cause of poor crop response to applied nutrients is generalized fertilizer recommendations that fail to account for variability in factors such as the climate, soil properties, and water availability. As we improve our understanding of the range of underlying issues that interact to create variability, better solutions can be created for farmers, and confidence in fertilizer use will grow.
Over the last 20 years, nutrient omission trials (NOTs) have become a widespread method of assessing crop responses to nutrient application within defined agro-climatic landscapes or even an individual farm field. NOTs are designed as a series of plots that omit single nutrients in order to isolate the effects of their absence on crop growth and yield. Plots omitting nutrients are also compared to plots providing a more balanced application of nutrients that attempt to achieve a predetermined yield target based on a current understanding of crop nutrient demand.
Read More at: African Plant Nutrition Institute
Critical to our knowledge, the study detailed new insights on how, why, and to what degree maize and rice yield responses are expected to vary in sub-Saharan Africa. (Photo Credit: K. Amouzou/APNI)
