Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-04T20:10:40.608Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

EFFECT OF SEED PRIMING AND MICRO-DOSING OF FERTILIZER ON GROUNDNUT, SESAME AND COWPEA IN WESTERN SUDAN

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 April 2011

ABDELRAHMAN OUSMAN  and
JENS B. AUNE
ABDELRAHMAN OUSMAN
Affiliation:
Agricultural Research Corporation/Elobeid Research Station, P.O.Box 429, El-Obeid, Sudan
JENS B. AUNE*
Affiliation:
Department of International Environment and Development Studies, P.O. Box 5003, 1432 Aas, Norway
*
§Corresponding in author: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

The effect of seed priming and micro-dosing in groundnut, cowpea and sesame was studied for three years in on-farm and on station experiments under rainfed agriculture in North Kordofan, Sudan. The on-station trials showed that seed priming increased groundnut pod and hay yields by 18% and 20% respectively. Micro-dosing of 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9 g fertilizer per pocket increased groundnut pod yield across the three years by 36.7, 67.6 and 50.8% respectively compared to the control. The highest yield increases were consistently obtained when micro-dosing was combined with seed priming. A combination of seed priming and micro-dosing of 0.6 g increased groundnut yield by 106%. Priming alone did not significantly affect sesame seed or hay yield, but micro-dosing of 0.6 g per pocket increased the grain yield by 38% over the control. Cowpea grain yield in the on-station experiments was not significantly affected by seed priming or micro-dosing. However, both seed priming and micro-dosing increased cowpea hay yield. In the on-farm trials, seed priming increased groundnut and cowpea yields by 18.2 and 25.5% respectively, and seed priming combined with 0.3 g fertilizer increased their yields by 42.2 and 54.5% respectively compared to the control. For sesame the yield increase after 0.3 g fertilizer per pocket was 46.3%. The economic analyses of the on-station experiments showed that the highest gross margin was obtained when combining seed priming with 0.6 g micro-dosing for all the crops. These results show that the combination of micro-dosing and seed priming has the potential to increase productivity and improve net return in the crops tested.

Type
Research Article
Information
Experimental Agriculture , Volume 47 , Issue 3 , July 2011 , pp. 431 - 443
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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

REFERENCES

Aune, J. and Bationo, A. (2008). Agricultural intensification in the Sahel: The Ladder Approach. Agricultural Systems 98:119–125.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aune, J. B. and Ousman, A. (2011). Effect of seed priming and micro-dosing of fertilizer on sorghum and pearl millet in western Sudan. Experimental Agriculture 47:00–00.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aune, J., Doumbia, M. and Berthe, A. (2007). Micro-fertilization in Mali. Outlook on Agriculture 36:199–203.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buerkert, A. and Hiernaux, P. (1998). Nutrients in West Africa Sudano-Sahelian zone: losses, transfers and role of external inputs. Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science 161:365–383.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buerkert, A., Bationo, A. and Piepho, H-P. (2001). Efficient phosphorus application strategies for increased crop production in sub-Saharan West Africa. Field Crops Research 72:1–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DLRC (2005). Agricultural research and technology cooperation (ARTC), Dryland Research Centre (DLRC), Ministry of Science and Technology, Wad Medani, Sudan.Google Scholar
El-Hag, F. M. (1992). Effects of chopping and wilting on tropical grassland silage quality in South Kordofan, Sudan. African Livestock Research 1:11–14.Google Scholar
Harris, D. (2006). Development and testing of ‘on-farm’ seed priming. Advances in Agronomy 90:129–178.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, D., Breese, W. A. and Rao, J. K. (2005). The improvement of crop yields in marginal environments using on farm seed priming: nodulation, nitrogen fixation and disease resistance. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 56:1211–1218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hassan, A. E. and Elasha, A. E. (2010). Crop production under mechanized rain-fed conditions. In Proceedings of the National Symposium on: Sustainable Rain-Fed Agriculture in Sudan, Al-Sharga Hall, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan 17–18 November 2009, UNESCO Chair of Desertification Studies, University of Khartoum, 89–112.Google Scholar
Hayashi, T., Abdoulaye, T., Gerard, B. and Batinono, A. (2008). Evaluation of application timing in fertilizer micro-dosing technology on millet production in Niger, West Africa. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems 80:257–265.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koning, N., Heerink, N. and Kauffman, S. (1998). Integrated soil improvement and agricultural development in West Africa: why current policy approaches fail. Wageningen Economic Papers, no. 09–98. http://www.mansholt.wur.nl/NR/rdonlyres/3F889325-3926-446B-8057-B9DE946B84CD/66416/wep9.pdf [Accessed 26 February 2010].Google Scholar
Madibo, G. M. (1987). El-Obeid Research Station Annual Report, Agricultural Research Corporation, Wadmedani, Sudan.Google Scholar
MOA North Kordofan (2008). Agricultural Season Evaluation Report, Ministry of Agriculture, North Kordofan State, Department of Planning and Agricultural Statistics.Google Scholar
Osman, A. K. and Mohamed, ElFatih, K. A. (2010). Crop production under traditional rain-fed agriculture. In Proceedings of the National Symposium on: Sustainable Rain-Fed Agriculture in Sudan, Al-Sharga Hall, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan 17–18 November 2009, UNESCO Chair of Desertification Studies, University of Khartoum, 113–131.Google Scholar
Pimratch, S., Jogloy, S., Vorasoot, N., Toomsan, B., Patanothai, A. and Holbrook, C. C. (2007). Relationship between biomass production and nitrogen fixation under drought-stress conditions in peanut genotypes with different levels of drought resistance. Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science 94:15–25.Google Scholar
Tabo, R., Bationo, A., Gerard, B., Ndjeunga, J., Marchal, D., Amadou, B., Annou, M. G., Sogodogo, D., Taonda, J-B. S., Hassane, O., Diallo, M. K. and Koala, S. A. (2007). Improving cereal productivity and farmers’ income using a strategic application of fertilizers in West Africa. In Advances in Integrated Soil Fertility Management in Sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges and Opportunities, 201–208 (Eds Bationo, A., Waswa, B. and Kimetu, J.), Dordrecht: Springer.Google Scholar