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(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H051767)
(6.20 MB) (6.20 MB)
Introduction: In rainfed agricultural systems, sustainable and efficient water management practices are key to improved agricultural productivity and natural resource management. The agricultural system in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) relies heavily on the availability of rainfall. With the erratic and unreliable rainfall pattern associated with poor and fragile soils, agricultural productivity has remained very low over the years. Much of the SSA agricultural land has been degraded with low fertility as a result of ongoing cultivation and wind and water erosion. This has resulted in an increased food shortage due to the ever-increasing population and land degradation. Better agricultural and nutritional security are further hampered by the lack of reliable access to the available water resources in the subsurface hydrological system.
Methods: This study used socio-economic data from 112 farm households and Boolean and Fuzzy methods to understand farmers' perceptions and identify suitable areas to implement Solar Based Irrigation Systems (SBISs) in the agro-ecologies of Bougouni and Koutiala districts of southern Mali.
Results and discussion: Results revealed that the usage of SBISs has been recent (4.5 years), majorly (77%) constructed by donor-funded projects mainly for domestic water use and livestock (88%). With regards to irrigation, vegetable production was the dominant water use (60%) enabling rural farm households to gain over 40% of extra household income during the dry season. Results further showed that 4,274 km2 (22%) of the total land area for the Bougouni district, and 1,722 km2 (18%) of the Koutiala district are suitable for solar-based irrigation. The affordability of solar panels in many places makes SBISs to be an emerging climate-smart technology for most rural Malian populations.
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H051834)
(2.82 MB) (2.82 MB)
Background: Soil is a basic natural resource for the existence of life on earth, and its health is a major concern for rural livelihoods. Poor soil health is directly associated with reduced agricultural land productivity in many sub-Saharan countries, such as Mali. Agricultural land is subjected to immense degradation and the loss of important soil nutrients due to soil erosion. The objective of the study was to diagnose the spatial distribution of soil erosion and soil nutrient variations under different land use in two agroecological zones of Southern Mali using the Geographical Information System (GIS) software, the empirically derived relationship of the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation, in-situ soil data measurement and satellite products. The soil erosion effect on agricultural land productivity was discussed to highlight the usefulness of soil and water conservation practices in Southern Mali.
Results: The results of the land use and land cover change analysis from 2015 to 2019 revealed significant area reductions in water bodies, bare land, and savanna woodland for the benefit of increased natural vegetation and agricultural land. There was significant variation in the annual soil loss under the different land use conditions. Despite recordings of the lowest soil erosion rates in the majority of the landscape (71%) as a result of field-based soil and water conservation practices, the highest rates of erosion were seen in agricultural fields, resulting in a reduction in agricultural land area and a loss of nutrients that are useful for plant growth. Spatial nutrient modelling and mapping revealed a high deficiency and significant variations (p < 0.05) in nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), and carbon (C) in all land use and land cover types for the two agroecologies.
Conclusions: The study highlighted the inadequacies of existing field-based soil and water conservation practices to reduce soil erosion and improve landscape management practices. The findings of the study can inform land management planners and other development actors to strategize and prioritize landscape-based intervention practices and protect catchment areas from severe erosion for the enhanced productivity of agricultural fields.
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H051835)
(2.68 MB) (2.68 MB)
Sorghum is an important cereal crop cultivated by smallholder farmers of Mali, contributing significantly to their food demand and security. The study evaluated different fertilization strategies that combined organic and inorganic fertilizer applications with three sorghum varieties. The experiments were conducted over three cropping seasons (2017–2019) in three sites (Bamako, Bougouni, and Koutiala respectively) within the Sudanian region of Mali. Our results showed a significant effect of season, variety, and fertilization strategies on grain and stalk yields. Grain yield increased by 8–40% in Koutiala, 11–53% in Bougouni, and 44–110% in Bamako while the average stalk yield was above 5000 kg ha- 1 with fertilized treatment compared to unfertilized treatment in the three sites. Fadda performed the best variety, mean grain yield was 23% and 42% higher than that of Soumba and Tieble, respectively. Similarly, there was a progressive increase in grain yield with an increasing level of poultry manure (PM) from 0 to 150 g/hill and cattle manure (CM) from 0 to 100 g/hill. However, the application of 100 g/hill of CM and PM plus 3 g/ hill of Di-ammonium Phosphate (DAP) increased yield by 8% and 12% respectively compared to only CM or PM treatments. The results further revealed higher yield gain by 51% (Bamako), 57% (Koutiala), and 42% (Bougouni) for T10-[PM (100 g/hill) + Micro-D_DAP (3 g/hill)] equivalent to 73 kgNha- 1 than others (T2-T9), but not proportionate to the highest value-cost ratio (VCR). Radar charts used to visualize sustainable intensification (SI) performance in the three domains (productivity, profitability, and environment) showed that the environmental variable has a direct influence on productivity, meanwhile profitability across the strategies ranged from low to moderate value across sites and different fertilizer strategies. Our study, therefore, recommends the use of multiple-choice fertilizer strategies includingT2-CM (50 g/hill)+PM(50 g/hill), T5-DAPMicro-D (3 g/hill), T6-DAP41:46:00 and T9-PM(50 g/hill) alongside with improved sorghum varieties tested, for higher productivity and profitability across the region.
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