Impact of tillage and soil amendments on cereal production in the Sahelian Zone of Mali
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Date
2015-04-09
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Abstract
A field study was carried out at Sikidolo in the Sahelian zone of Mali to assess the
impact of tillage and soil amendments on the growth and yield of millet and
sorghum. Two experiments were conducted for millet and for sorghum. The
treatments consisted of two tillage practices (contour ridge and hoe tillage) and five
soil amendments (organic manure, urea, rock phosphate and lime). The experiment
was factorial in RCBD with 3 replications. The contour ridge outyielded the hoe
tillage in most of the measured parameters. The respective percentage increment
under millet and sorghum were 12.5 and 9 % for plant height, and 12 and 61 % for
grain yield. Millet biomass yield and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) were increased
by 65 % and 316 % respectively by contour ridge. Contour ridge did not significantly
(p<0.05) influence soil pH, exchangeable K, and available phosphorus, although it
had higher values than the hoe tillage and significantly increased soil organic carbon
under millet (48 %) and sorghum (15 %). The application of manure increased
sorghum height by 94 %, grain yield by 576 % and biomass yield by 162 % while it
increased millet height by 61 %, grain yield by 112 % and biomass yield by 198 %
relative to the no amendment. The application of manure for both millet and sorghum
did not significantly (p < 0.05) affect soil chemical properties, although soil organic
carbon value was highest with the application of manure. The integrated use of
manure and inorganic fertilizers increased sorghum and millet growth, yield and
NUE relative to the application of the manure but did not significantly increase soil
chemical properties relative to the application of manure alone. With a value cost
ratio (VCR) less than 2.0, all the treatments were not economically profitable.
However, on a relative basis, the application of manure was promising with a VCR
of 1.8 and 1.0 under millet and sorghum respectively. Based on grain yield and
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corresponding absolute monetary value, the contour ridge was more profitable than
the hoe tillage.
Description
A thesis submitted to the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Faculty of
Agriculture, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Kwame Nkrumah
University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana, in partial fulfillment of
the requirement for the award of the Degree of
Master Of Science
in
Soil Science