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STRATEGIC PHOSPHORUS APPLICATION IN LEGUME-CEREAL ROTATIONS INCREASES LAND PRODUCTIVITY AND PROFITABILITY IN WESTERN KENYA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 November 2009

J. KIHARA ,
B. VANLAUWE ,
B. WASWA ,
J. M. KIMETU ,
J. CHIANU  and
A. BATIONO
J. KIHARA*
Affiliation:
Center for Development Research (ZEF), Walter-Flex-Str. 3, D- 53113 Bonn, Germany
B. VANLAUWE
Affiliation:
The Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute of CIAT, PO Box 30677, Nairobi, Kenya
B. WASWA
Affiliation:
The Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute of CIAT, PO Box 30677, Nairobi, Kenya
J. M. KIMETU
Affiliation:
Crop and Soil Science Department, Cornell University 1022 Bradfield hall, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
J. CHIANU
Affiliation:
The Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute of CIAT, PO Box 30677, Nairobi, Kenya
A. BATIONO
Affiliation:
The Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute of CIAT, PO Box 30677, Nairobi, Kenya
*
†Corresponding author: jkiharam@yahoo.com
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Summary

Many food production systems in sub-Saharan Africa are constrained by phosphorus (P). We hypothesized that within legume-cereal rotation systems: targeting P to the legume phase leads to higher system productivity, and that use of grain legumes leads to better economic returns than use of herbaceous legumes. Four P application regimes: (i) no P, (ii) P applied every season, (iii) P applied in season 1 only and (iv) P applied in season 2 only were tested for four seasons in three cropping systems (continuous maize, mucuna-maize rotation and soybean-maize rotation) in a split plot experiment set up in Nyabeda, western Kenya. Treatments where P was applied were better than no P treatments. While continuous cereal systems showed the need for application of P every second season, rotation systems involving mucuna and soyabean indicated that application in one out of three seasons could be sufficient. Nitrogen fertilizer equivalence was 52 to >90 kg N ha−1 for soyabean and 37 to >90 kg N ha−1 for mucuna, depending on P fertilization and season. Analysis of marginal rates of return (MRR) showed that soybean-maize rotation with one application of P was the most economically viable option, with an MRR of at least 147% compared to other non-dominated options.

Type
Research Article
Information
Experimental Agriculture , Volume 46 , Issue 1 , January 2010 , pp. 35 - 52
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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