{"title":"The Effects of Phosphate Fertilizers and Manure on Maize Yields in South Western Kenya","authors":"J. Ademba, J. Kwach, A. Esilaba, S. Ngari","doi":"10.1080/00128325.2015.1040640","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Phosphorus, nitrogen and Striga hermonthica are the major constraints to maize production in the Nyanza Province of Kenya. Field trials were conducted on-farm in Nyanza Province to investigate the effects of phosphate fertilizers and manure on maize yields. The experimental design was a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with maize as the test crop. The maize was top dressed with calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN) fertilizer at a uniform rate of 30 kg N/ha diammonium phosphate (DAP), Minjingu rock phosphate (MRP) and triple super phosphate (TSP) fertilizers were applied at 60 kg/ha P2O5, farmyard manure (FYM) at 10 t/ha and a non-phosphorus (P) treatment (control) plus lime only. Responses (P ≤ 0.01) from grain yield, total dry matter yield and harvest index to phosphate fertilizers and manure treatments were found. Nutrient uptake and removal by the crop increased (P ≤ 0.01) due to fertilizers and manure application. Phosphate fertilizers and manure application increased (P ≤ 0.01)) available soil P, agronomic phosphorus use efficiency (APUE) and Physiological P use efficiency (PPUE). The results indicate that phosphate fertilizers and manure applications are essential to improve maize yield and nutrient P use efficiency.","PeriodicalId":11421,"journal":{"name":"East African Agricultural and Forestry Journal","volume":"34 1","pages":"1 - 11"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2015-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"28","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"East African Agricultural and Forestry Journal","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00128325.2015.1040640","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 28
Abstract
ABSTRACT Phosphorus, nitrogen and Striga hermonthica are the major constraints to maize production in the Nyanza Province of Kenya. Field trials were conducted on-farm in Nyanza Province to investigate the effects of phosphate fertilizers and manure on maize yields. The experimental design was a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with maize as the test crop. The maize was top dressed with calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN) fertilizer at a uniform rate of 30 kg N/ha diammonium phosphate (DAP), Minjingu rock phosphate (MRP) and triple super phosphate (TSP) fertilizers were applied at 60 kg/ha P2O5, farmyard manure (FYM) at 10 t/ha and a non-phosphorus (P) treatment (control) plus lime only. Responses (P ≤ 0.01) from grain yield, total dry matter yield and harvest index to phosphate fertilizers and manure treatments were found. Nutrient uptake and removal by the crop increased (P ≤ 0.01) due to fertilizers and manure application. Phosphate fertilizers and manure application increased (P ≤ 0.01)) available soil P, agronomic phosphorus use efficiency (APUE) and Physiological P use efficiency (PPUE). The results indicate that phosphate fertilizers and manure applications are essential to improve maize yield and nutrient P use efficiency.