Authors:
Siaka Drissa Traoré, Moro Souley Sidibé, Kapoury Sanogo, Urbain Dembélé, Djigui Dembélé, M'Piè BENGALI and Kalifa Traoré , Mali |
Abstract:
In the south of the Sahara, the cultivation of land leads to a rapid decrease in nutrients and the
appearance of deficiencies in nitrogen, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, and other elements.
The major constraint of production in this area on agricultural soils is the low level of soil
fertility. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of different amendment formulas
on cotton and maize yields as well as their financial returns in order to propose a recommendable
formula. To achieve this objective, the experimental set-up used was a dispersed series of five
treatments of 3125 m² per school field in 6 villages in the circles of Sikasso, Koutiala and
Bougouni, with each village constituting a replication. Four formulations were tested in addition
to the farmer's practice, namely (i) agricultural lime (300 Kg/ha) combined with 300 Kg/ha of
TNP, (ii) agricultural lime (500 Kg/ha) combined with 500 Kg/ha of TNP, (iii) agricultural lime
at a dose of 300 Kg/ha and agricultural lime at a dose of 500 Kg/ha. Analysis of the results
shows that the effect of the amendments varies according to the site (soil acidity level). The best
marginal rates of return were recorded in Sikasso with T5 (665%), which is well above the
recodable minimum (50-100%), followed by T2 (195%) at the same site. The T4 treatment
remains the optimal treatment in Koutiala because it has the lowest recommendation rate (52%)
compared to the farmer's practice. We also noted that all treatments in Bougouni were dominated
by the farmer's practice. With respect to the evaluation of after-effects, treatments T4 and T3
remain the satisfactory treatments in Bougouni, while in Sikasso it is T4 and T2 provided the
best after-effects.
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