Influence of nutrient management strategies on variability of soil fertility, crop yields and nutrient balances on smallholder farms in Zimbabwe

An improved understanding of soil fertility variability and farmers’ resource use strategies is required for targeting soil fertility improving technologies to different niches within farms. We measured the variability of soil fertility with distance from homesteads on smallholder farms of different...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Agriculture, ecosystems & environment ecosystems & environment, 2007-02, Vol.119 (1), p.112-126
Main Authors: Zingore, S., Murwira, H.K., Delve, R.J., Giller, K.E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions
Arachis hypogaea
Biological and medical sciences
cation exchange capacity
cattle
cattle manure
clay soils
crop yield
cropping systems
crops
farm income
Farmer decision making
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General agroecology
General agroecology. Agricultural and farming systems. Agricultural development. Rural area planning. Landscaping
General agronomy. Plant production
Generalities. Agricultural and farming systems. Agricultural development
mineral fertilizers
nutrient availability
nutrient management
Nutrient use efficiencies
phosphorus
Resource allocation
sandy soils
small farms
small-scale farming
socioeconomic status
soil fertility
Soil fertility gradients
soil nutrient balance
soil organic matter
soil quality
spatial variation
Zea mays
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:An improved understanding of soil fertility variability and farmers’ resource use strategies is required for targeting soil fertility improving technologies to different niches within farms. We measured the variability of soil fertility with distance from homesteads on smallholder farms of different socio-economic groups on two soil types, a granite sand and a red clay, in Murewa, northeast Zimbabwe. Soil organic matter, available P and CEC decreased with distance from homestead on most farms. Soil available P was particularly responsive to management, irrespective of soil type, as it was more concentrated on the plots closest to homesteads on wealthy farms (8–13 mg kg −1), compared with plots further from homesteads and all plots on poor farms (2–6 mg kg −1). There was a large gap in amounts of mineral fertilizers used by the wealthiest farmers (>100 kg N and >15 kg P per farm; 39 kg N ha −1 and 7 kg P ha −1) and the poorest farmers (
ISSN:0167-8809
1873-2305
DOI:10.1016/j.agee.2006.06.019