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Impact of depth of placement of mineral fertilizer micro-dosing on growth, yield and partial nutrient balance in pearl millet cropping system in the Sahel

Part of: AGS Millet Collection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 October 2014

A. IBRAHIM ,
D. PASTERNAK  and
D. FATONDJI
A. IBRAHIM*
Affiliation:
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), BP 12404 Niamey, Niger
D. PASTERNAK
Affiliation:
International Adviser Drylands Agriculture, 16/12 Harav Goren St., Rishon Letzion 75753, Israel
D. FATONDJI
Affiliation:
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), BP 12404 Niamey, Niger
*
*To whom all correspondence should be addressed. Email: ibramali@myway.com
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Summary

A study was carried out in the rainy seasons of 2008 and 2009 in Niger to investigate the effects of fertilizer micro-dosing on root development, yield and soil nutrient exploitation of pearl millet. Different rates of diammonium phosphate (DAP) were applied to the soil at different depths and it was found that although micro-dosing with DAP increased grain yield over the unfertilized control to a similar level as broadcast DAP, doubling the micro-dosage did not increase it further. Increasing the depth of fertilizer application from 5 to 10 cm resulted in significant increases in root length density, and deep application of fertilizer resulted in higher yields, although the increases were generally not significant. It was postulated that the positive effect of micro-dosing resulted from better exploitation of soil nutrients because of the higher root volume. Levels of nutrients exported from the soil were at least as high in plants receiving micro-dosing as the unfertilized control, and plants receiving micro-dosing exported 5–10 times more phosphorus from the soil than the amount added through fertilization.

Type
Crops and Soils Research Papers
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 153 , Issue 8 , November 2015 , pp. 1412 - 1421
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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