Performance of fertilizer microdosing on dry cereals in the Groundnut Basin in Senegal

Abstract

In a context of climate change and soil degradation, several initiatives are being undertaken through the use of fertilization technologies, such as microdose (MD), to improve soil fertility and boost crop yields in the agrosystems of the Groundnut Basin (GB) in Senegal. The objective of this study is to analyze the agronomic and economic performance of MD on dry grains (millet, sorghum) in the GB. The study was conducted in 2020 and 2021 during the rainy season on a total of 1,324 demonstration plots of the MD technology. In each demonstration plot, two treatments were compared, MD and farmer's practice (FP). Yield, cost, and value of production were evaluated on each of the two treatments. For both years of the study, results showed yield increases of up to 37% for millet and 41% for sorghum with MD compared to FP. The gross margin of the MD increased by at least 134% over FP on millet and at least 18% on sorghum. Thus, for large-scale adoption of MD, constraints must be overcome, notably the difficult access to quality and quantity of organic and mineral fertilizer and the lack of mechanization of localized fertilizer application.

Keywords: Groundnut Basin, microdose, cereals, performance