Inherent Low Fertility Research Articles

Contributive Effect of Land Management Indicators to Farmers Farmland Conservation in Oyo State, Nigeria

Major problem facing tropical agriculture is the inherent low fertility status of most of the soils because of the predominant low-activity. The study explained the contributive effect of sustainable land management indicators to land use on farmers’ productivity in Oyo State Nigeria. A two-stage sampling technique was employed in selecting 330 farmers from the four agricultural zones in Oyo State. Structured questionnaire was used to obtain primary data. The data collected were analysed using descriptive and Fuzzy logic analysis (Fuzzy set theory). The result revealed that the result of Fuzzy Logic which was used to compute the composite indicators of unsustainable land use (IULU) showed that the total IULU of 0.26 obtained indicated that farmers’ land management practices in the study area are generally sustainable. Residue cover, land fallowing, compaction and rooting, salinity and crop rotations among others have the highest relative contributions of 3.2%, 3.2%, 3.2%, 3.2% and 3.2% respectively to land farmers land conservation, while other indicators contribute lower percentage to land conservation been unsustainable in the study with relative contributions of 2.1%, 2.3%, 2.3%, 2.0, 2.5% and 2.4% respectively also majority of the farmer (60%) are sustainable and contributed larger percentage (96.4%) to sustainability and had between 0.1-0.2 with minimum of 0.00004 and maximum of 0.95650 sustainable land index in the study. The study recommended among others that cultural practices for erosion prevention should be encouraged by planting of cover crops and planting of trees and other agronomic best practices which enhance soil conservation and improve more on their level of sustainable land use indicators. Keywords: Sustainable, Land, Conservation, Indicators, Aggregation, Fuzzy, Nigeria

Performance of Maize-Bean Intercropping Assessed Through Varied Spatial Arrangements and Nutrient Phosphorus Levels in Tanzania

Erratic climatic conditions, inherent low fertility and nutrient depletion are among the most important biophysical constraints of food crops production in semi-arid African regions. This study aimed to elucidate the impact of different crop spatial arrangements associated with different levels of Phosphorus on the performance of maize-bean intercropping in Tanzania. The experiment was laid in a complete randomized design of factorial-split arrangement and three factors in different levels. Sowing patterns were randomly assigned to all experimental plots whereas Phosphorus rates were randomly assigned within a specific sowing pattern one after another. Data were subjected to statistical analysis using GenStat software of a generalized treatment structure in a randomized design. Results of the interaction between cropping pattern and the P-rates on beans and maize at a 5% level of significance indicated that grain yield, pods/plant, and biological yield did not differ significantly (P>0.05) while plant height, leaf area index, and plants per plot differed significantly (P<0.05). Intercropping affects the growth and development of component crops depending on the cropping pattern and the nutrients applied. The choice of compatible crops for an intercropping system should not exempt growth habits of the crops, land size, light, water fertilizer utilization. and other agronomic practices.

Response of Sunflower to Nitrogen Application and Water in Northern Brazil Alfisol

Decline in crop yield has been a problem in Northern Brazil region due to inherent low fertility status of the soils and water deficit of different crops. In order to study the effects of nitrogen and available soil water levels on growth and yield components of sunflower, an experiment was carried out from March to June 2010 in a semi-controlled greenhouse condition of the Federal University of Campina Grande, Paraiba, Brazil using Alfisol soil. The treatments were arranged as a completely randomized design, in a 4×4 factorial experiment (four nitrogen levels and four available soil water levels), in triplicates, total of 48 experimental units. The nitrogen levels in kg/ha were 0; 60; 80 and 100 which was added as urea; the available soil water levels were 55; 70; 85 and 100%. The results of this research indicate that nitrogen had a significant effect only on leaf area at 40 DAS and % achenes viable. The effect of available soil water on sunflower cv. Embrapa 122/V-2000 biometry and the yield showed that there were significant differences, on average, in all growth traits (stem height and diameter) at 40 and 60 DAS, in leaf number at 40 DAS, in leaf area at 40 and 60 DAS and in all production traits. The biometry and yield response to available soil water of different crops is of major importance in production planning. In this study, the maximum biometry and yield response factor of sunflower was determined at 100 % of available soil water.

Response of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) to nitrogen application in a savanna Alfisol

Decline in crop yield has been a major problem in Northern Guinea savanna zones of Nigeria due to inherent low fertility status of the soils. Field experiments were conducted for two years (2003 and 2004) on an Alfisol of the Northern Guinea savanna of Nigeria to determine the effect of N fertilizer on growth and yield parameters of sunflower. Six rates of nitrogen (0, 30, 60, 90, 120 and 150 kg N ha-1) were applied. Plant height and number of leaves were highly significant 10 weeks after planting (WAP). Highest plant heights of 120 and 138 cm were obtained in 2003 and 2004, respectively, at 120 kg N ha-1. Application of N significantly increased seed and oil yields while excess N (150 kg N ha-1) reduced the contents of the two parameters. Optimum N requirement of sunflower obtained from this study is between 90 and 100 kg N ha-1.

Effect of Organo- mineral fertilizer Application on growth and yield of French- beans (<i>Phaseolus vulgaris</i> L.)

The main constraints to sustainable crop production in arid environment are mainly inherent low fertility of the soil and moisture deficit. A study was conducted at Mekelle University, Tigray Region in Ethiopia to test the hypothesis that Integrated soil management practices consisting of manure (Cow dung) and Inorganic fertilizers (Urea and Dap) in combined form, thereby resulting in higher yields and fertilizer use efficiency, resulted in high productivity with reduced risk. Results from an analysis of variance showed that the high combination of organic and inorganic manure gave higher yields. Among the nutrient applications, the combination of high amount of urea with manure gave higher yields than the use of either higher amount of Dap, Urea with lower manure and unfertilized plot. There was significant difference among all the treatments consider: fresh weight, leaf area, plant stand and plant height. Returns from French beans grown with higher fertilizer combination rates (100kg urea, + 125kgDap and 3.75tones of manure were found to be the most profitable in terms of high returns and low risk, mainly because higher fertilizer use efficiency and residual effects on the soil properties than any of the treatments. The study recommends combined use of organic and inorganic manure with no effects on higher rate of manure combination for the arid environment as an insurance against total crop failure. Keywords: Organic, Inorganic fertilizers, Urea, Dap, yield, growth, French bean Ethiopian Journal of Environmental Studies and Management Vol. 1 (3) 2008: pp. 8-17

Pregnancy failure following transfer of bovine embryos: Inherent low fertility of recipients?

Pregnancy failure following transfer of bovine embryos: Inherent low fertility of recipients?