Abstract
The chapter discusses the importance of the precise determination of both P and K buffer power to formulate precise fertilizer (phosphatic and potassic) recommendations for the cultivation of the important fodder crop white clover (Trifolium repens) in The Republic of Cameroon. White clover is an important fodder crop for the emerging livestock industry in the country. Incorporating the P and K buffer power into the computations has resulted in the precise prediction of plant uptake. As against the routine soil tests for P (Olsen’s test) and for K (NH4OAc test), which have shown very poor correlation with plant uptake, incorporation of the respective P and K buffer power values into the statistical computations significantly enhanced the correlation between fertilizer application and nutrient uptake, clearly reflecting in crop yield. The chapter further discusses the relevance of the buffer power determination in the case of other heavy metals like Molybdenum (Mo), Iron (Fe), Manganese (Mn) and Boron (B).
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Nair, K.P. (2019). Case Studies with African Soils with Regard to P and K. In: Intelligent Soil Management for Sustainable Agriculture. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15530-8_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15530-8_10
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