Posted on April, 1, 2019 at 11:18 am
THE amount of nitrogen in fertiliser could be reduced to achieve high rice yields and boost food security in sub-Saharan Africa, a study says.
Despite rice being a major staple in sub-Saharan Africa, only about 60 per cent of rice consumed is produced locally, according to researchers who conducted the study in 17 countries including Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Madagascar, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Togo and Uganda.
The researchers add that poor nutrient management practices and deficiencies in major soil nutrients account for low yields of rice in the region, thereby resulting in interventions to increase application of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertiliser .
“This study adds more pieces to the emerging puzzle of how to achieve fertiliser efficiency in rice farming,” said Isaiah Sesan, Federal University Wukari, Nigeria
But, according to the findings of the study published this month (15 March) in the journal Geoderma, when the target yield is between four and eight tonnes per hectare, the amount of nitrogen could be cut by eight to 12 per cent, taking into account factors such as production systems and types of farms.
“We will use results from this study to further improve RiceAdvice [an app for educating rice farmers] providing decision support tailored to the particular site, zone, or production system, thereby closing yield gaps, improving fertiliser nutrient efficiency and preventing negative environmental consequences of fertiliser use,” says Kazuki Saito, a co-author and a principal scientist at the Africa Rice Center based in Côte d'Ivoire.
Saito, who is an agronomist, said that the study was carried out to develop site-specific nutrient management for rice in sub-Saharan Africa.
Researchers assessed current on-farm yield gaps and nutrient deficiency levels in different rice production systems — irrigated lowland, rainfed lowland and rain fed upland rice systems — in different agricultural zones including highlands.
They conducted on-farm nutrient omission trials with different combinations of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilisers in 17 countries in sub-Saharan Africa
The findings of the study show that nitrogen was most limiting nutrient. For instance, rice yields with nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium were 68 per cent while those with only phosphorus and potassium fertilisers were 84 and 89 per cent of yields respectively.
Source: IPP Media