June 2014

Properties and management of gravelly soils developed on ferruginous cuirass in Mali

In Mali, different types of gravelly soils on Cuirass were identified in association with a native vegetation including many species of tree, shrub and herbaceous. All these soils are developed by degradation of ferruginous cuirass, a material largely observed in West Africa Sudanian and Sudano-Guinean zones. Gravelly soils of Mali have a variable depth (< 10 to 95 cm depth) and gavel content (15 to 60%) and are...

Author(s): Drissa DIALLO

June 2014

Nutrient budget analysis under smallholder farming systems and implications on agricultural sustainability in degraded environments of semiarid central Tanzania

Soil nutrient budget is one of the critical concerns in most farming systems, especially in degraded environments. This paper reveals a net nutrient removal from the agricultural system that resulted in negative budgets, particularly for N. Large variations existed between villages, with N budget ranging from -9.6 to -252.4 kg/ha/year, with a mean budget of -91.9 kg/ha/year. Various factors seem to have contributed to...

Author(s): Richard Y. M. Kangalawe