Keywords
Groundnut
Soil fertility
Adamawa
Cameroon.
How to Cite
Abstract
Groundnut (Arachis hypogea L.) production is a key farming activity in Cameroon, since it substantially contributes to human nutrition, economic wealth of farmers and soil fertility. Most cropping systems in sub Saharan Africa are limited by low soil fertility and subjected to the slash-and-burn agriculture. A study was conducted to investigate the potential of cattle manure ash, derived from cooking activities as soil conditioner in order to improve soil fertility and groundnut performances in two sites in the Adamawa region (Cameroon). The results showed that cattle manure ash slightly increased soil pH, soil moisture, SOM, Corg and C/N ratio in amended plots. Cattle manure ash improved nodule weight and increased arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi colonization in one site, that was translated to better N assimilation, and dry weight of both groundnut varieties used in the study. Future studies are needed to evaluate the full potential of cattle manure ash application, alone and/or associated with others organic wastes for sustainable agriculture in the tropics.References
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