Sustainable Intensification of Sorghum and Pearl Millet Production by Seed Priming, Seed Treatment and Fertilizer Microdosing under Different Rainfall Regimes in Mali
Adama Coulibaly, Kamkam Woumou, Jens B. Aune
Agronomy November 12, 2019 DOI: 10.3390/agronomy9100664 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Sorghum and pearl millet crops in Mali |
| Interventions | Seed priming Seed treatment with pesticide Urea top dressing |
| Dose | 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 g NPK hill−1; 1 g urea hill−1 |
| Duration | Four years |
| Topics | Microdosing |
| Keywords | Seed priming Seed treatment Economic return Fertilizer use efficiency Value–cost-ratio |
| Key findings | The optimal microdosing rate of NPK fertilizer varied by region: 0.4 g per hill in central Mali and 0.8 g per hill in southern Mali, and seed priming was effective only in central Mali. |
Abstract
Sorghum and pearl millet are the most important stable crops in the drylands of West Africa. This four-year study based on two experiments assessed different low-cost methods for intensification of sorghum and millet production under contrasting rainfall conditions in Mali. Experiment 1 assessed the microdosing rates 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6 and 0.8 g NPK hill−1 combined with seed priming across four locations in Mali while Experiment 2 assessed the cumulative effects of the seed priming, seed treatment with pesticide, microdosing and urea top dressing. In central Mali, there was a clear effect of seed priming while there was no such effect in southern Mali with better rainfall conditions. In central Mali, the microdosing rate of fertilizer of 0.4 g NPK hill−1 (4 kg NPK ha−1) performed best, while in southern Mali the microdosing rate of 0.8 g NPK hill−1 (20 kg NPK ha−1) gave the best result. Experiment 2 showed that there was a clear effect of top dressing of 1 g urea hill−1 (25 kg urea ha−1) in southern Mali while no such effect was apparent in central Mali. In general, there was a better response to microdosing in sorghum than in pearl millet. A decision tree for crop and fertilizer management in Mali was developed, taking into consideration rainfall, crop choice, use of seed priming and microdosing rates.
Comparable studies
Other randomized controlled trials on microdosing, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Use of microdosing to predict pharmacokinetics at the therapeutic dose: Experience with 5 drugs Volunteers | 2006 | Crossover study | |
| Self-blinding citizen science to explore psychedelic microdosing. Participants who microdose psychedelics | 2021 | Self-blinding citizen science initiative with placebo control | n = 191 |
| Microdosing with psilocybin mushrooms: a double-blind placebo-controlled study Individuals starting to microdose with psilocybin mushrooms (Psilocybe cubensis) | 2022 | Double-blind placebo-controlled experimental design | n = 34 |
| Preliminary Report on the Effects of a Low Dose of LSD on Resting-State Amygdala Functional Connectivity. Healthy young adults, 18 to 35 years old | 2019 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 20 |
| Acute Mood-Elevating Properties of Microdosed Lysergic Acid Diethylamide in Healthy Volunteers: A Home-Administered Randomized Controlled Trial. Healthy male volunteers | 2023 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 80 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 6
- Effectiveness of Microdosing in Comparison to Broadcasting and Banding Vermicompost Application for Maize (Zea mays L.) Production in Smallholder Farming of Semiarid Tigray Region of Ethiopia International Journal of Agronomy June 10, 2025
- Maize production in Mali: microdosing and mechanization for better yields, profits, and labor reduction Discover Agriculture April 6, 2025
- Microdosing of Compost for Sustainable Production of Improved Sorghum in Southern Mali Agronomy June 23, 2022
- Farmers' Soil Fertility Management in Niger and Opportunities for Improvements Through Mechanization, Microdosing, and Seed Coating Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems December 8, 2020
- Intensification of Pearl Millet Production in Niger through Mechanized Sowing and Weeding, Seed Priming, Seed Treatment, and Microdosing Agronomy April 29, 2020
and 1 more in the library