Efficient fertilizer use for crop production: The Gambia experience

Abstract

Poorly bufferred soils with low inherent fertility, erratic rainfall, pest and disease outbreaks are among the forces that militate against increased agricultural production in the Gambia. A lot of the early work on soil fertility and fertilizers was on cash crops. Recent studies by the Ministry of Agriculture and by such agencies as the FAO have emphasized on-farm research on food crops. Collaborative research with the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) showed that split application of nitrogen fertilizer was a beneficial practice. Similarly, fertilizer nitrogen that was banded and incorporated outperformed that which was broadcast and left on the soil surface. Tilemsi phosphate rock from Mali was agronomically as effective as commercial superphosphates in terms of both direct effects and residual effects thereby confirming the place of this phosphate rock as one of West Africa’s best for direct application.