Abstract

Since the 1970s, food and agricultural production in most of Sub-Saharan Africa has worsened as high population growth has increased pressure on land in many areas, leading to overexploitation and decline in soil fertility, and an acceleration of desertification. In 1982, (IFDC) began a fertilizer research program in the region with the overall goal of increasing food production through judicious use of fertilizers, especially those produced from material indigenous to the region and through the research activities of a regional network, the West African Fertilizer Management and Evaluation Network (WAFMEN), supported by IDRC since 1985. Results obtained from this network were assembled into technological packages and tested on-farm in Niger with farmer participation. In two years, millet yields increased by an average of 250% using fertilizers. The objective of this project is to demonstrate that though farmer participation in the research and technology transfer process the results obtained in Niger can be repeated in other socioeconomic environments if the methodology is properly understood and executed. The project will be implemented in Mali and Nigeria.

Post-Project Summary

The project involved two multidisciplinary teams of 14 researchers each and over 200 farmers in three villages in Mali and four villages in Nigeria. Both researcher managed and farmer-managed on-farm trials were carried out. In Mali, farmers indicated that their major reason for not using locally available Tilemsi phosphate rock (TPR) was its dustiness and the need to supplement it with other nutrients, such as nitrogen (N), potassium (K), sulfur, and boron. Researchers therefore prepared different complex fertilizers with TPR as a source of P and compared their agronomic efficiency with that of imported complex fertilizers in researcher-managed on-farm trials. They concluded that TPR fertilizers could be effectively substituted for imported fertilizers.

The on-farm trials aimed to evaluate the efficiency of fertilizers from various sources under farm operating conditions. The resulting data are set forward in the final report in 18 tables and 14 graphs. In Nigeria, the results showed clearly that Togo 50% partially acidulated phosphate rock (Togo PAPR50) met the phosphorous requirements for both sorghum and maize. In Mali, the agronomic performance of TPR in all agroecological zones was comparable to that of imported complex materials. In both countries, large yield differences between farmers using the same treatment were found. These were at least in part attributed to management practices, indicating that the performance of fertilizers can be enhanced by proper soil and crop management.

Scientists from the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) provided on-the-job training in on-farm trials to at least 14 national collaborators in Mali and Nigeria. The on-farm trials benefitted the 200 participating farmers and the project results raised the profile of locally-available fertilizers among them. Since one of the major concerns of farmers was the insufficient and untimely availability of fertilizers, it was suggested that a feasibility study for the small-scale production of partially acidulated and compacted NPK fertilizers from local phosphate rock be undertaken. The research results were presented at two annual meetings of West Africa Fertilizer Management and Evaluation Network (WAFMEN).

Recipient Institution(s)