Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-4rdrl Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-27T14:34:16.005Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Use of Manure on Smallholders' Farms in Semi-Arid Eastern Kenya

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 October 2008

M. E. Probert ,
J. R. Okalebo  and
R. K. Jones
M. E. Probert
Affiliation:
KARL/ACIAR/CSIRO Dryland Project, Nairobi, Kenya
J. R. Okalebo
Affiliation:
KARL/ACIAR/CSIRO Dryland Project, Nairobi, Kenya
R. K. Jones
Affiliation:
KARL/ACIAR/CSIRO Dryland Project, Nairobi, Kenya
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

The manure that is returned to croplands each year is an important resource in the subsistence farming systems of eastern Kenya. Measurements on several farms have shown that the manure being used is of very poor quality. Analyses of soil samples from beneath the bomas (small enclosures) where animals are kept indicate that substantial losses of nutrients occur through leaching; ammonia volatilization and denitrification may also be involved. Current practice is to apply the manure at rates that appear to make poor use of this scarce resource. The findings are discussed in terms of what changes to the system may be feasible to reduce losses of nutrients, and to improve the quality of the manure and the effectiveness of its use.

Type
Research Article
Information
Experimental Agriculture , Volume 31 , Issue 3 , July 1995 , pp. 371 - 381
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bray, R. H. & Kurtz, L. T. (1945). Determination of total, organic, and available forms of phosphorus in soils. Soil Science 59:39–45.Google Scholar
Cooke, G. W. (1967). The Control of Soil Fertility. London: Crosby Lockwood and Son.Google Scholar
do Ridder, N. & van Keulen, H. (1990). Some aspects of the role of organic matter in sustainable intensified arable farming systems in the West-African semi-arid-tropics (SAT). Fertilizer Research 26:299–310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Egner, H., Riehm, H. & Domingo, W. R. (1960). Examination of soil chemical analysis as fundamental to the knowledge of nutrient condition of the soil. II. Chemical extraction methods P and K. Kungliga Lantbrukshogskolens, Annaler 26:199–215.Google Scholar
Ikombo, B. M. (1984). Effects of farmyard manure and fertilizers on maize in semi-arid areas of Eastern Kenya. East African Agricultural and Forestry Journal 44:266–274.Google Scholar
Kwakye, P. K. (1980). The effects of method of dung storage and its nutrient (NPK) content and crop yield in the north east savanna zone of Ghana. FAO Soils Bulletin No. 43, 282–288. Rome: FAO.Google Scholar
McCown, R. L., Keating, B. A., Probert, M. E. & Jones, R. K. (1992). Strategies for sustainable crop production in semi-arid Africa. Outlook on Agriculture 21:21–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mokwunye, U. (1980). Interaction between farmyard manure and NPK fertilizers in savanna soils. FAO Soils Bulletin No. 43, 192–200. Rome: FAO.Google Scholar
Mugwira, L. M. & Shumba, E. M. (1986). Rate of manure applied in some communal areas and the effect on plant growth and maize grain yields. Zimbabwe Agricultural Journal 83:99–104.Google Scholar
Nambiar, K. K. M. & Ambrol, I. P. (1989). Long term fertilizer experiments in India: an overview. Fertilizer News, April 1989.Google Scholar
Okalebo, J. R. (1985). A simple wet ashing technique of phosphorus, potassium, calcium and magnesium analysis of plant tissue in a single digest. Kenya Journal of Science and Technology Series B 6:129–133.Google Scholar
Okalebo, J. R., Simpson, J. R. & Probert, M. E. (1992). Phosphorus status of cropland soils in the semi-arid areas of Machakos and Kitui districts (Kenya). In A Search for Strategies for Sustainable Dyland Cropping in Semi-arid Kenya, ACIAR Proceedings No. 41, 50–54 (Ed. Probert, M. E.). Canberra: ACIAR.Google Scholar
Okwell, A. P., Muhammad, L., Nguluu, S., Parton, K. A., Jones, R. K. & McCown, R. L. (1991). Characteristics of improved technologies that affect their adoption in the semi-arid tropics of eastern Kenya. Journal for Farming Systems Research-Extension 2:29–46.Google Scholar
Olsen, S. R., Cole, C. V., Watanabe, F. S. & Dean, L. A. (1954). Estimation of available phosphorus in soils by extraction with sodium bicarbonate. USDA Department Circular 939.Google Scholar
Powell, J. M. & Mohamed-Saleem, M. A. (1987). Nitrogen and phosphorus transfers in a crop-livestock system in West Africa. Agricultural Systems 25:261–277.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tanner, P. D. & Mugwira, L. (1984). Effectiveness of communal area manures as sources of nutrients for young maize plants. Zimbabwe Agriadtural Journal 81:31–35.Google Scholar
Walkley, A. & Black, I. A. (1934). An examination of the Degtjareff method for determining soil organic matter, and a proposed modification of the chromic acid titration method. Soil Sciences 37:29–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar