Long term effects of reduced fertilizer rates on millet yields and soil properties in the West-African Sahel

Microdosing, the point-source application of a reduced fertilizer rate within 10 days of sowing, has increased short-term crop yields across the Sahel and is being actively scaled up as an agronomic practice. However, there is no information on the long-term effects of the technique upon soil fertility. To rectify this, this study used soil samples from the International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics in Sadore, Niger, to assess the effects of 16 years of a reduced fertilizer rate of 15 kg N and 4.4 kg P ha−1 compared to unfertilized soil and a recommended rate of 30 kg N and 13.2 kg P ha−1 upon millet yield trend, soil chemical properties, and soil organic matter quality. The interaction of fertilizer with crop residue and manure amendments at 300, 900, and 2700 kg ha−1 was also assessed. Compared to unfertilized soil, the reduced fertilizer rate improved yield by 116 % but did not increase total N or available P. The recommended rate doubled available P and increased total N by 27 %, but resulted in slightly lower pH compared to the reduced rate. Yield trends were negative for both fertilizer treatments, indicating mineral fertilizer alone is not sustainable at Sadore. Crop residue or manure addition at 2700 kg ha−1 with fertilizer did not improve SOC but buffered pH by 0.3 units, provided nutrients beyond N and P, and changed the forms C and N functional groups in soil organic matter.

• Publication year

  2016

• Venue

  Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems

• Publication date

  2016-07-14

• Fields of study

  Agricultural and Food Sciences, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1007/s10705-016-9786-x
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Understanding the incremental value of novel diagnostic tests for tuberculosis

  2015cited by this paper
• Surface liming and nitrogen fertilization for crop grain production under no-till management in Brazil

  2015cited by this paper
• Chapter One – Advances in Using Soft X-Ray Spectroscopy for Measurement of Soil Biogeochemical Processes

  2015influential reference
• The contentious nature of soil organic matter

  2015cited by this paper
• Organic matter decomposition: bridging the gap between Rock–Eval pyrolysis and chemical characterization (CPMAS 13C NMR)

  2014influential reference
• Nitrogen input quality changes the biochemical composition of soil organic matter stabilized in the fine fraction: a long-term study

  2014influential reference
• Perennially and annually frozen soil carbon differ in their susceptibility to decomposition: Analysis of Subarctic earth hummocks by bioassay, XANES and pyrolysis

  2014influential reference
• Maize Response to Fertilizer Dosing at Three Sites in the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia

  2014cited by this paper
• Integrated Soil Fertility Management: Aggregate carbon and nitrogen stabilization in differently textured tropical soils

  2013cited by this paper
• Soil Atlas of Africa

  2013cited by this paper
• Food Production and Consumption Trends in Sub-Saharan Africa: Prospects for the Transformation of the Agricultural Sector

  2012cited by this paper
• Rothamsted carbon model reveals technical options to maintain soil organic carbon under semi-arid climate

  2012cited by this paper
• Knowing the African Soils to Improve Fertilizer Recommendations

  2012cited by this paper
• The origin of litter chemical complexity during decomposition.

  2012cited by this paper
• Long Term Effects of Crop Rotations with Fallow or Groundnut on Soil Fertility and Succeeding Sorghum Yields in the Guinea Savannah of West Africa

  2012influential reference
• Strategies for Maintenance and Improvement of Soil Productivity Under Continuous Maize and Beans Cropping System in the Sub-humid Highlands of Kenya: Case Study of the Long-Term Trial at Kabete

  2012cited by this paper
• Management of Soil Fertility in a Long-Term Field Trial of Semi-arid Kenya

  2012cited by this paper
• EFFECT OF SEED PRIMING AND MICRO-DOSING OF FERTILIZER ON SORGHUM AND PEARL MILLET IN WESTERN SUDAN

  2011cited by this paper
• Does the combined application of organic and mineral nutrient sources influence maize productivity? A meta-analysis

  2011cited by this paper
• Agronomic use efficiency of N fertilizer in maize-based systems in sub-Saharan Africa within the context of integrated soil fertility management

  2011cited by this paper
• Simple models and concepts as tools for the study of sustained soil productivity in long-term experiments. I. New soil organic matter and residual effect of P from fertilizers and farmyard manure in Kabete, Kenya

  2011influential reference
• Advances in Agronomy Quantifying Processes of Pedogenesis

  2011cited by this paper
• Effects of repeated fertilizer and cattle slurry applications over 38 years on N dynamics in a temperate grassland soil

  2011cited by this paper
• XANES and Pyrolysis-FIMS Evidence of Organic Matter Composition in a Hummocky Landscape

  2011cited by this paper
• Microdose and N and P fertilizer application rates for pearl millet in West Africa

  2011influential reference
• Nitrogen Compounds in Dissolved and Solid Environmental Samples

  2010cited by this paper
• Soft X‐ray spectromicroscopy of nickel sorption in a natural river biofilm

  2009cited by this paper
• INTEGRATED NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT OF PEARL MILLET IN THE SAHEL COMBINING CATTLE MANURE, CROP RESIDUE AND MINERAL FERTILIZER

  2008influential reference
• Agricultural intensification in the Sahel – The ladder approach

  2008cited by this paper
• Calibration method at the N K-edge using interstitial nitrogen gas in solid-state nitrogen-containing inorganic compounds.

  2008influential reference
• Molecular C dynamics downstream: the biochemical decomposition sequence and its impact on soil organic matter structure and function.

  2008cited by this paper
• Building adaptive capacity to cope with increasing vulnerability due to climatic change in Africa – A new approach

  2008cited by this paper
• Tillage and fertility management effects on soil organic matter and sorghum yield in semi-arid West Africa

  2007influential reference
• Mehlich 3-Extractable Elements

  2007cited by this paper
• Cropping System Effects and Seasonal Dynamics of Extractable Phosphorus in a Semi‐arid Soil of the Sahel, West Africa

  2007cited by this paper
• Soil organic carbon dynamics, functions and management in West African agro-ecosystems

  2007cited by this paper
• Soil Reaction and Exchangeable Acidity

  2007cited by this paper
• Nitrogen K-edge XANES - an overview of reference compounds used to identify unknown organic nitrogen in environmental samples.

  2007cited by this paper
• The Role of Animal Manure in Sustainable Soil Fertility Management in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review

  2005cited by this paper
• Stages and determinants of fertilizer use in semiarid African agriculture: the Niger experience

  2005cited by this paper
• Long-term effect of fertilizer and manure application on soil organic carbon storage, soil quality and yield sustainability under sub-humid and semi-arid tropical india

  2005cited by this paper
• A review of nitrogen fertilizer and conservation tillage effects on soil organic carbon storage

  2005cited by this paper
• Review of human decomposition processes in soil

  2004cited by this paper
• Soil organic matter biochemistry and potential susceptibility to climatic change across the forest‐tundra ecotone in the Fennoscandian mountains

  2003cited by this paper
• Evidence of carbon stimulated N transformations in grassland soil after slurry application

  2003cited by this paper
• The macromolecular organic composition of plant and microbial residues as inputs to soil organic matter

  2002cited by this paper
• Trends in the Carbonyl Core (C 1S, O 1S) → π*C=O Transition in the Near-Edge X-ray Absorption Fine Structure Spectra of Organic Molecules

  2002cited by this paper
• Trend and stability analyses of millet yields treated with fertilizer and crop residues in the Sahel

  2002influential reference
• Soft X-ray Spectroscopy and Spectromicroscopy Studies of Organic Molecules in the Environment

  2002cited by this paper
• Organic nitrogen in geomacromolecules: insights on speciation and transformation with K-edge XANES spectroscopy.

  2002cited by this paper
• Refractory organic carbon in C-depleted arable soils, as studied by 13C NMR spectroscopy and carbohydrate analysis

  2000cited by this paper
• Adsorption of model wood polymers and colloids on bentonites

  2000cited by this paper
• Analytical approaches for characterizing soil organic matter

  2000cited by this paper
• Effects of continuous use of cattle manure and fertilizer phosphorus on crop yields and soil organic phosphorus in a Vertisol

  2000cited by this paper
• Accumulation of heterocyclic nitrogen in humified organic matter: a 15N‐NMR study of lowland rice soils

  2000cited by this paper
• Organic matter transformations in lignocellulosic waste products composted or vermicomposted (eisenia fetida andrei): Chemical analysis and 13C CPMAS NMR spectroscopy

  1997cited by this paper
• Physical control of soil organic matter dynamics in the tropics

  1997cited by this paper
• Effect of crop residues on root growth and phosphorus acquisition of pearl millet in an acid sandy soil in Niger

  1993cited by this paper
• Changes in a Sandy Sahelian Soil Following Crop Residue and Fertilizer Additions

  1992cited by this paper
• Importance of organic nitrogen fractions in sandy soils, obtained by electro-ultrafiltration or CaCl2 extraction, for nitrogen mineralization and nitrogen uptake of rape

  1990cited by this paper
• Comparison of Conventional and Automated Procedures for Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium Analysis of Plant Material Using a Single Digestion1

  1967cited by this paper
• Bacterial Metabolism (2nd ed.)

  1940cited by this paper

• Soil fertility, maize productivity, and nutrient use efficiency following different cattle corralling duration and mineral fertilizer application on a Lixisol in Benin

  2025cites this paper
• Transformation of humic substances in vermicomposting: Structural changes and impact on cowpea soil nutrient dynamics 16

  2025cites this paper
• Evaluating Nutrient Removal and Use Efficiency in Pearl Millet (Pennisetum glaucum L.) through Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Inoculation and Fertilizer Microdosing in Sahelian Sandy Soils

  2025cites this paper
• From scarcity to sustainability: agriculture intensification for food security and climate resilience in drylands

  2025cites this paper
• Localized application of manure and fertilizers increases productivity of cereals, resource use efficiency and profitability in sub-Saharan Africa

  2025cites this paper
• Effects of Irrigation Amount and Nitrogen Rate on Cotton Yield, Nitrogen Use Efficiency, and Soil Nitrogen Balance under Drip Irrigation

  2024cites this paper
• Diversity of soil fertility management options in maize-based farming systems in northern Benin: A quantitative survey

  2023cites this paper
• Can low-input agriculture in semi-arid Burkina Faso feed its soil, livestock and people?

  2023cites this paper
• Légumineuses, Agroforesterie, Labour et Pâturage : les déterminants de la diversité des systèmes de culture à Saint-Raphaël, Haïti

  2023cites this paper
• THE ROLE OF FERTILIZER IN BUILDING SOIL HEALTH TO SUSTAIN FARMING AND ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE

  2023cites this paper
• Profitability and agronomic potential of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) under biochar-compost-based amendments in three agroecological zones of northern Benin

  2022cites this paper
• Localized phosphorus application via P-dipping is more effective for improving initial rice growth in lower temperature conditions

  2022cites this paper
• Long-Term Organic Inputs Determine Soil Productivity Better in Sorghum-Cowpea Rotation Than in Sorghum Monoculture

  2022cites this paper
• Microdosing of Compost for Sustainable Production of Improved Sorghum in Southern Mali

  2022cites this paper
• Combined effect of trees and soil fertility management practices on millet yields in the Sahel

  2021cites this paper
• Innovative agronomic practices for sustainable intensification in sub-Saharan Africa. A review

  2021cites this paper
• Supplementing grass-based cattle feeds with legume leaves and its effects on manure quality and value as a soil improver for an Anthropic Ferralsol in Rwanda

  2020cites this paper
• Inorganic fertilizer use efficiency of millet crop increased with organic fertilizer application in rainfed agriculture on smallholdings in central Senegal

  2020cites this paper
• Long-term effects of integrated soil fertility management practices on soil chemical properties in the Sahel

  2020cites this paper
• Effects of a nitrification inhibitor on nitrogen species in the soil and the yield and phosphorus uptake of maize.

  2020cites this paper
• Molecular Scale Studies of Phosphorus Speciation and Transformation in Manure Amended and Microdose Fertilized Indigenous Vegetable Production Systems of Nigeria and Republic of Benin

  2020cites this paper
• The farm income and food security implications of adopting fertilizer micro-dosing and tied-ridge technologies under semi-arid environments in central Tanzania

  2019cites this paper
• Why is the spatial variability of millet yield high at farm level in the Sahel? Implications for research and development

  2019cites this paper
• The effect of fertilization and effective microorganisms on buckwheat and millet

  2019cites this paper
• Soil moisture management and fertilizer micro-dosing on yield and land utilization efficiency of inter-cropping maize-pigeon-pea in sub humid Tanzania

  2019cites this paper
• Fertilizer micro-dosing and harvesting time of indigenous leafy vegetables affect in vitro antioxidant activities

  2019cites this paper
• Different agricultural practices affect soil carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous in Kilombero -Tanzania.

  2019cites this paper
• Combining hill-placed manure and mineral fertilizer enhances maize productivity and profitability in northern Benin

  2018cites this paper
• Soil carbon stock changes in tropical croplands are mainly driven by carbon inputs : a synthesis

  2018cites this paper
• Fertilizer microdosing enhances maize yields but may exacerbate nutrient mining in maize cropping systems in northern Benin

  2017cites this paper
• Long-term Piliostigma reticulatum intercropping in the Sahel: Crop productivity, carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling, and soil quality

  2017cites this paper
• Assessing Factors Influencing Cassava Yield in Salayea, Liberia: A Study Using the Analytical Hierarchy Process

  year unknowncites this paper