Abstract
The effect of continuous cultivation using inorganic and organic fertilizers on crop yields and soil agro-properties was studied in a 30-year-old long-term field experiment at Kabete, near Nairobi, in the highlands of Kenya. The area is sub-humid with an average bimodal rainfall of 980 mm and two cropping seasons per year. The soil is a dark red, friable clay classified as a Humic Nitisol and is considered to be moderately fertile. The main treatments consisted of three rates of inorganic fertilizers nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), farmyard manure with or without stover restitution. Maize and beans were planted during the long and short rains seasons, respectively. Results indicate that the use of chemical fertilizers alone increased maize grain yields by more than 50% during the first 6 years of experimentation but declined thereafter. Application of combined chemical fertilizers and farmyard manure proved superior to inorganic fertilizers alone and maintained maize yields at 3–5 t ha–1. Farmyard manure also gave better yields than did chemical fertilizers. However, application of chemical fertilizers alone led to decreased maize yields, increased soil acidification from pH of 5.5 to 4.3 and raised bulk density from 1.04 to 10.8 g cm–3 soil. The total % N declined by 25% from 0.16%, while soil organic carbon decreased from 2 to 1.2% after 27 years. Fertilizer N utilization ranged from 25 to 33% but was higher in plots supplied with chemical fertilizers than in those with combined organic and inorganic inputs.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Ayaga GO (2000) Improving the efficiency of phosphate utilization in low-input maize production in Kenya. PhD thesis, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
Bationo A, Kimetu J, Ikerra S, Kimani S, Mugendi DN, Odendo M, Silver M, Swift MJ, Sanginga N (2004) The African network for soil biology and fertility: new challenges and opportunities. In: Bationo A (ed) Managing nutrient cycles to sustain soil fertility in sub-Saharan Africa. AfNet-CIAT. Academy Science Publishers, Nairobi, Kenya, pp 1–23
FAO (1995) Planning for sustainable use of land resources: towards a new approach. In: Sombroek WG, Sims D (eds) Land and water bulletin 2. FAO, Rome, Italy
FAO (2002) Food insecurity: when people must live with hunger and fear starvation. The state of 2002. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy
FAO-UNESCO (1974) Soil map of the world: volume VI, Africa. UNESCO, Paris
Heerink N (2005) Soil fertility decline and economic policy reform in sub-Saharan Africa. Land Use Policy 22:67–74
Hinga G, Muchena FN, Njihia CM (1980) Physical and chemical methods of soil analysis report. National Agricultural Research Laboratories, Nairobi, Kenya
Jaetzold R, Schmidt H (1983) Farm management handbook for Kenya. Natural conditions and farm management information. Part C, East Kenya. Ministry of Agriculture, Nairobi
Kapkiyai JJ, Karanja NK, Woomer P, Qureshi JN (1998) Soil organic carbon fractions in a long-term experiment and the potential for their use as a diagnostic assay in highland farming systems of Central Kenya. Afr Crop Sci J 6(1):19–28
Kenya Meteorological Department (1984) Climatological statistics of Kenya. Kenya Meteorological Department, Nairobi, 61pp
Kibunja CN (2007) Impact of long-term application of organic and inorganic nutrient sources in a maize-bean rotation to soil nitrogen dynamics and soil microbial populations and activity. PhD thesis, University of Nairobi, Kenya
Kibunja CN, Gikonyo EW (2000) Maintenance of soil fertility under continuous cropping in a maize-bean rotation (long-term trial, NARL-Kabete). The biology and fertility of tropical soils. Report of the tropical soil biology fertility programme. TSBF. 1997–1998
Kibunja CN, Mugendi DN, Mwaura FB, Kitonyo EM, Salema MP (2005) Fate of applied nitrogen in a long-term maize – bean cropping system in Kenya. In: Mugendi DN, Kironchi G, Gicheru PT, Gachene CKK, Macharia PN, Mburu M, Mureithi JG, Maina F (eds) Proceedings of the 21st Conference of the Soil Science Society of East Africa (SSSEA). Eldoret, Kenya, pp 363–371
Makokha S, Kimani S, Mwangi W, Verkuijl H, Musembi F (2001) Determinants of fertilizer and manure use in maize production in Kiambu District, Kenya. CIMMYT/KARI report
Minae S, Akyeampong E (1988) Agroforestry potentials for the land use systems in the bimodal highlands of eastern Africa, Kenya. Report. AFRENA No. 3. ICRAF, Nairobi, 153pp
Nye PH, Greenland DJ (1960) The soil under shifting cultivation. Commonwealth Agric, Bureaux, Harpenden, England
Qureshi JN (1987) The cumulative effects of N–P fertilizers, manure and crop residues on maize grain yields, leaf contents and some soil chemical properties at Kabete. National maize agronomy workshop, Nairobi, 17–19th 1987, p 12
Qureshi JN (1991) The cumulative effects of N–P fertilizers, manure and crop residues on maize and bean yields and some chemical properties at Kabete. In: Proceedings of the 2nd KARI conference, Nairobi, Kenya, 5–7 Sept 1991
Sanchez PA, Shepherd KA, Soule MJ, Place FM, Buresh RJ, Izac A-MN, Mokwunye AU, Kwesiga FR, Ndiritu CG, Woomer PL (1997) Soil fertility replenishment in Africa: an investment in natural resource capital. In: Buresh RJ, Sanchez PA, Calhon F (eds) Replenishing Soil Fertility in Africa. SSSA special publication no. 51. Soil Science Society of America & American Society of Agronomy, Madison, WI, pp 1–46
Scholes MC, Swift MJ, Heal OW, Sanchez PA, Ingram JSI, Dalal R (1994) Soil fertility research in response to the demand for sustainability. In: Woomer PL, Swift MJ (eds) The biological management of tropical soil fertility. Wiley, England, UK, pp 1–14
Siderius W, Muchena FN (1977) Soils and environmental conditions of agricultural research stations in Kenya. Misc. publication no. 5. Kenya Soil Survey, National Agricultural Laboratory, Nairobi, Kenya
Sombroek WG, Braun HMH, Van der Pouw BJA (1980) Exploratory soil map and agro-climatic zone map of Kenya. Report no. E 1. Ministry of Agriculture, Kenya Soil Survey, Nairobi, Kenya
Stoorvogel JJ, Smaling EMA, Janssen BH (1993) Calculating soil nutrient balances in Africa at different scales. 1. Supra-national scale. Fertil Res 33:227–235
Swift MJ, Seward PD, Frost PGG, Qureshi JN, Muchena FN (1994) Long-term experiments in Africa: developing a database for sustainable land use under global change. In: Leigh RA, Johnson AE (eds) Long-term experiment in agricultural and ecological sciences. CAB International, Wallingford, CT, pp 229–251
USDA-Soil Conservation Service (1975) Soil taxonomy. A system for soil classification. Soil survey staff. SMSS technical monograph no. 19. United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC
World Bank (1996a) African development indicators 1996. World Bank, Washington, DC
Zapata F, Hera C (1995) Enhancing nutrient management through use of isotope techniques. In: Proceedings of an international symposium on nuclear and related techniques in soil-plant studies on sustainable agriculture and environmental preservation jointly organized by IAEA and FAO, Vienna, 17–21 October 1994, pp 83–105
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank the director, KARI for permission to publish this work and TSBF-CIAT for its continued support of the long-term trial during the last 4 years through its AfNet Programme.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this paper
Cite this paper
Kibunja, C., Mwaura, F., Mugendi, D., Wamae, D., Bationo, A. (2011). Long-Term Land Management Effects on Crop Yields and Soil Properties in the Sub-humid Highlands of Kenya. In: Bationo, A., Waswa, B., Okeyo, J., Maina, F., Kihara, J. (eds) Innovations as Key to the Green Revolution in Africa. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2543-2_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2543-2_15
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-2541-8
Online ISBN: 978-90-481-2543-2
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)