The application of cattle manure to improve soil fertility for crop production in Uganda

Declining per capita food production and soil fertility depletion are threatening the livelihoods of many small-holder farmers in East Africa, including Uganda. High demand for food due to the increase in population has necessitated the need to improve crop yields where synthetically manufactured fe...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Muhereza, Innocent, Pritchard, Deborah, Murray-Prior, Roy, Bowden, B.
Other Authors: A/Prof Louise Barton
Format: Conference Paper
Published: Australian Society of Soil Science Inc 2011
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/34643
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author Muhereza, Innocent
Pritchard, Deborah
Murray-Prior, Roy
Bowden, B.
author2 A/Prof Louise Barton
author_facet A/Prof Louise Barton
Muhereza, Innocent
Pritchard, Deborah
Murray-Prior, Roy
Bowden, B.
author_sort Muhereza, Innocent
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Declining per capita food production and soil fertility depletion are threatening the livelihoods of many small-holder farmers in East Africa, including Uganda. High demand for food due to the increase in population has necessitated the need to improve crop yields where synthetically manufactured fertiliser use in the production system is often scarce and expensive. Cattle manure provides essential plant nutrients (mainly nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium) and is available locally; however, there is little information in Uganda on soil fertility status, the most effective rates of cattle manure, methods of application, crop requirements for specific nutrients and limiting factors to crop production. A survey was conducted on selected small-holder farmers in Uganda, in the central districts (Kampala and Wakiso) in January 2010 to identify socio-economic factors influencing the use of fertiliser and the current level of soil fertility as constraints that were most limiting to plant production. It was apparent from the survey and soil sampling that soil physicochemical values varied greatly amongst the soils and sites investigated. Unfortunately, in many situations the application of fertilisers being used didn’t target specific nutrients most limiting to crop production. The main findings from the soil survey will be presented in this paper and subsequent field research and nitrogen modelling that has been conducted to better assist farmers in Uganda improve crop productivity through more effective fertiliser practice.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-346432017-01-30T13:44:51Z The application of cattle manure to improve soil fertility for crop production in Uganda Muhereza, Innocent Pritchard, Deborah Murray-Prior, Roy Bowden, B. A/Prof Louise Barton uganda cattle manure africa Declining per capita food production and soil fertility depletion are threatening the livelihoods of many small-holder farmers in East Africa, including Uganda. High demand for food due to the increase in population has necessitated the need to improve crop yields where synthetically manufactured fertiliser use in the production system is often scarce and expensive. Cattle manure provides essential plant nutrients (mainly nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium) and is available locally; however, there is little information in Uganda on soil fertility status, the most effective rates of cattle manure, methods of application, crop requirements for specific nutrients and limiting factors to crop production. A survey was conducted on selected small-holder farmers in Uganda, in the central districts (Kampala and Wakiso) in January 2010 to identify socio-economic factors influencing the use of fertiliser and the current level of soil fertility as constraints that were most limiting to plant production. It was apparent from the survey and soil sampling that soil physicochemical values varied greatly amongst the soils and sites investigated. Unfortunately, in many situations the application of fertilisers being used didn’t target specific nutrients most limiting to crop production. The main findings from the soil survey will be presented in this paper and subsequent field research and nitrogen modelling that has been conducted to better assist farmers in Uganda improve crop productivity through more effective fertiliser practice. 2011 Conference Paper http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/34643 Australian Society of Soil Science Inc fulltext
spellingShingle uganda
cattle manure
africa
Muhereza, Innocent
Pritchard, Deborah
Murray-Prior, Roy
Bowden, B.
The application of cattle manure to improve soil fertility for crop production in Uganda
title The application of cattle manure to improve soil fertility for crop production in Uganda
title_full The application of cattle manure to improve soil fertility for crop production in Uganda
title_fullStr The application of cattle manure to improve soil fertility for crop production in Uganda
title_full_unstemmed The application of cattle manure to improve soil fertility for crop production in Uganda
title_short The application of cattle manure to improve soil fertility for crop production in Uganda
title_sort application of cattle manure to improve soil fertility for crop production in uganda
topic uganda
cattle manure
africa
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/34643