Abstract
Food security is an increasingly serious problem worldwide, and especially in sub-Saharan Africa. As land and resources are limited and environmental problems caused by agriculture are worsening, more efficient ways to use the resources available must be found. The objective of this study was to display the spatial variability in crop yield and resource use efficiencies across Nigeria and to give recommendations for improvement. Based on simulations from the crop model LINTUL5 we analyzed the influence of fertilizer application on the parameters Water Use Efficiency (WUE), Fertilizer Use Efficiency (FUE), and Radiation Use Efficiency (RUE) in maize. High spatial variability was observed, especially between the north and the south of the country. The highest potential for yield improvement was found in the south. While WUE and RUE increased with higher rates of fertilizer application, FUE decreased with higher rates. In order to improve these resource use efficiencies, we suggest optimizing management strategies, demand-oriented fertilizer application, and breeding for efficient traits.
Highlights
Maize is an important staple crop in many regions of the world, especially in sub-Saharan Africa [1,2]
While Water Use Efficiency (WUE) and Radiation Use Efficiency (RUE) increased with higher rates of fertilizer application, Fertilizer Use Efficiency (FUE) decreased with higher rates
The mean residual error (ME) was underestimated by 0.21 ton/ha and 0.19 ton/ha respectively compared to the observed grain yield values (Figure 2)
Summary
Maize is an important staple crop in many regions of the world, especially in sub-Saharan Africa [1,2]. In Nigeria, the diet depends on maize as their number one cereal crop [3]. Nigeria is a country in Western Africa with a population of more than 195 million people [4]. Agriculture is still responsible for 40% of the gross domestic product and two-thirds of the labor force are currently occupied by agriculture, the country’s food production does not meet the demand [3]. One reason for this is the country’s continually growing population [5]. Meeting the increasing food demand calls for interventions that could lead to increased crop productivity
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