Integrated plant nutrient management in sub-Saharan Africa: from concept to practice

Contributors......Page 10
Preface......Page 14
Introduction......Page 16
1 Forty Years of Soil Fertility Work in Sub-Saharan Africa......Page 22
2 Soil Fertility Replenishment Takes Off in East and Southern Africa......Page 38
3 A Systems Approach to Target Balanced Nutrient Management in Soilscapes of Sub-Saharan Africa......Page 62
4 In for a Penny, in for a Pound: Strategic Site-selection as a Key Element for On-farm Research that Aims to Trigger Sustainable Agricultural Intensification in West Africa......Page 78
5 Agricultural Transformation and Fertilizer Use in the Cerealbased Systems of the Northern Guinea Savannah, Nigeria......Page 90
6 Partial Macronutrient Balances of Mucuna/Maize Rotations in the Forest Savannah Transitional Zone of Ghana......Page 102
7 Process Research and Soil Fertility in Africa: Who Cares?......Page 112
8 Fertilizer Equivalency Values of Organic Materials of Differing Quality......Page 128
9 Plant N Uptake from Plant and Animal Organic Residues, Measured Using the Soil Pre-labelling 15N Isotope Dilution Approach......Page 138
10 Contribution of Organic Residues to Soil Phosphorus Availability in the Highlands of Western Kenya......Page 148
11 Resource Acquisition of Mixed Species Fallows – Competition or Complementarity?......Page 158
12 Targeting Management of Organic Resources and Mineral Fertilizers: Can we Match Scientists’ Fantasies with Farmers’ Realities?......Page 170
13 Direct Interactions between N Fertilizer and Organic Matter: Evidence from Trials with 15N-labelled Fertilizer......Page 188
14 On-farm Evaluation of the Contribution of Sole and Mixed Applications of Organic Matter and Urea to Maize Grain Production in the Savannah......Page 200
15 Yield Trends, Soil Nitrogen and Organic Matter Content During 20 Years of Continuous Maize Cultivation......Page 214
16 Meeting the Phosphorus Needs of the Soils and Crops of West Africa: the Role of Indigenous Phosphate Rocks......Page 224
17 Options for Increasing P Availability from Low Reactive Phosphate Rock......Page 240
18 Phosphorus Uptake from Sparingly Available Soil-P by Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) Genotypes......Page 254
19 Improving Phosphate Rock Solubility and Uptake and Yields of Lowland Rice Grown on an Acidic Soil Amended with Legume Green Manure......Page 266
20 Decision Making on Integrated Nutrient Management through the Eyes of the Scientist, the Land-user and the Policy Maker......Page 280
21 Legumes: When and Where an Option? (No Panacea for Poor Tropical West African Soils and Expensive Fertilizers)......Page 300
22 Options for Soil Organic Carbon Maintenance under Intensive Cropping in the West African Savannah......Page 314
23 On-farm Research and Operational Strategies in Soil Fertility Management......Page 328
24 Recommendations......Page 348
Index......Page 354