Abstract

In West Africa, agriculture faces many problems including soil degradation. In this study, the effects of four composts on okra and soybean have been evaluated. The plants were sown using a Fisher block design with 5 treatments and 4 replicates/treatments. The green manure of three selected fertilizer species was also evaluated on the growth and yield of okra and of jute mallow in order to identify the best organic fertilizer. The experimental design for the green manure testing is made of 5 treatments which correspond to the green fertilizers of the three selected species, their mixture and a control treatment without amendment. The surface area of each experimental plot is 6 m². The results showed that the composts which high proportions of nutrients gave the best yield. The highest growth (41.25 cm) and number of fruits (10) were obtained with compost C4 versus 27 and 3 cm for the control treatment for okra plants. However, C1 and C2 significantly improved the growth parameters of soybean. Plants grown in C1 and C4 got the highest yields for soybeans. Among the plants fertilizer tested, the species C. odorata and P. argentea improved the yields of okra and mallow. In this regard, these species, compost made from green waste, food, calcareous and clay waste could be an alternative to increase crop production.

Key words: Biofertilizers, mining wastes, crop physiology, plant yields.