SUSTAINABLE SOIL MANAGEMENT

1. Integrated soil fertility management

Integrated soil fertility management strategies were studied under different technological packages in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Kenya through the use of composts, biochar, and techniques such as dynamic kraaling. Among others: fertilization on sorghum and maize yield in cotton-cereals-based farming systems (Burkina Faso), physical protection of soil using earth/stone bands on maize yield (Ghana), evaluation of short- term fallow of annual legumes on cereal productivity and soil fertility of degraded croplands (Ethiopia), the effect of Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) on Crop Yields (Tanzania), evaluation of the effect of rotating maize, finger millet and sorghum with groundnut on crop yield and soil fertility status (Kenya).

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2. Intercropping

Intercropping techniques were investigated in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, and Ghana. The use of nitrogen-fixing legumes has been tested in crop rotation or intercropping, as natural soil fertility-improving technologies that significantly contribute to soil N and improve soil quality. For each intercropping solution, the consortium has been assessing i) the performance of associated crops under intercropping; ii) the biological efficiency and economic feasibility of the intercropping system; iii) the role of legume inclusion in cereal fields on productivity, pest infestation, and soil fertility maintenance. In Burkina Faso, trials were conducted on the effects of compost and intercropping on soil properties, sorghum, and cowpea productivity to assess the efficiency of intercropping combined with manure applications on soil parameters and, sorghum and cowpea yields. In Ethiopia, the determination of the spatial arrangement of lima bean in a maize-lima bean intercropping system and the impact of rhizobia inoculation, phosphorus fertilization, and vermicompost application on the productivity of haricot bean were experimented with. In Ghana, trials were conducted on the Fonio/legume intercropping system for soil fertility maintenance and cassava and cowpea intercropping for improved land productivity and sustainable crop production.

3. Conservation agricolture

Conservation agriculture techniques such as tie-ridging, mulching, cover-cropping, zero tillage, or minimum tillage are being tested to restore and enhance the physical, biological, and chemical properties of soils that determine soil function and the delivery of ecosystem goods and services such as food production, water storage, and carbon sequestration (to mitigate climate change and extreme weather events). In particular, our partners in Burkina Faso have been testing conservation tillage techniques to assess the effects of minimum tillage and recycling crop residues through compost on soil nutrients budget and crop productivity in cotton-cereals-based cropping systems along with testing the effects of self-product organic fertilizer on fonio performance. The trials were conducted using a participatory approach. The parameters measured to evaluate the effects of the technological packages were economic, environmental, and concerning productivity.