Scientific Publication

Integrated Nutrient Management: Concepts and Experience from Sub-Saharan Africa

author(s) Bationo, A - Kihara, J - Vanlauwe, B - Kimetu, J - Waswa, B S - Sahrawat, K L
from International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)
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citation

Bationo, A and Kihara, J and Vanlauwe, B and Kimetu, J and Waswa, B S and Sahrawat, K L (2008) Integrated Nutrient Management: Concepts and Experience from Sub-Saharan Africa. In: Integrated Nutrient Management for Sustainable Crop Production. The Haworth Press, Taylor & Francis Group, New York, USA, pp. 467-521. ISBN 9781560223047

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Abstract

In Africa, 28 percent of its landmass, 874 Mha, is potentially suitable for agricultural production. Of the potentially suitable agricultural land, 34 percent comprises arid and semiarid lands (ASAL) that are too dry for rainfed agriculture. The semiarid regions have a shortened length of growing period (75-129 days) compared to the subhumid (180-269 days), and the humid (>270 days) zones. The dynamics of agroecosystems show that the farming systems practiced have gone through diverse changes from traditional shifting farming systems to permanent and intensified arable and mixed farming systems. The changes are coping strategies to respond to the environment, and its changing biophysical and socioeconomic circumstances

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