| Popis: |
Among other soil fertility challenges, a poor response to fertilizer application persist in preventing the closure of crop yield gaps in western Kenya. This not only threatens the continuity of fertilizer use but becomes a setback to the achievement for the long awaited food security in the region. Therefore, this research seeks to unravel the drivers of poor responses to fertilizer NPK application and thereafter develop effective soil fertility packages for such soils. The research work is in two main phases: first is a diagnostic phase that (i) assess farmers' knowledge on the occurrence of poorly response soils using open-ended questionnaire and (ii) determines crop nutrient imbalances related to such soils using a multivariate diagnostic tool. Phase 2 involves (i) the development of fertilizer blends that would correct the nutrient imbalances identified in Phase 1, and (ii) the evaluation of their effectiveness through on-farm trials. status: published |
