Yield response of African leafy vegetables to combined manure and urea microdosing in West Africa
André Adjogboto, Dagnon Didier Likpètè, C. Sossa-Vihotogbe, Pierre Akponikpe, A. Djènontin, M. Baco, R. Diogo, K. E. Agbossou
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized complete block design Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Three African leafy vegetables (Amaranthus cruentus, Solanum macrocarpon, Ocimum gratissimum) in Northern Benin |
| Interventions | Cattle manure Urea-N microdosing |
| Dose | Urea-N rates of 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, and 60 kg urea-N·ha-1 combined with 5 t·ha-1 cattle manure; controls of 40 and 80 kg urea-N·ha-1 without manure |
| Duration | Three growing seasons (2015 to 2017) |
| Topics | Microdosing |
| Key points | Combining 5 t/ha cattle manure with 60 kg urea-N/ha produced the highest fresh yield for Amaranthus cruentus, while 5 t/ha manure with 40 kg urea-N/ha best improved Solanum macrocarpon yield; Ocimum gratissimum showed no significant response to urea microdose rates. |
Abstract
Description of the subject. Fertilizers microdosing was tested for African leafy vegetables (ALVs) production to reduce the high rates of fertilizers usually applied to their production in West Africa. Objectives. This study aims to (i) evaluate the response of three ALVs (Amaranthus cruentus L., Solanum macrocarpon L. and Ocimum gratissimum L.) to cattle manure combined with urea-N microdosing and application timing and (ii) assess their partial factor productivity. Method. On-station trials were carried out over three growing seasons (2015 to 2017) in Northern Benin. Urea-N rates of 0, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 60 kg urea-N·ha-1 combined with 5 t·ha-1 of cattle manure (M5N0, M5N10, M5N20, M5N30, M5N40 and M5N60, respectively) and sole application as control (40 (M0N40) and 80 kg urea-N·ha-1 (M0N80)) and two urea-N application timings (T1 = 0 and T2 = 14 days after transplanting) were tested in a randomized complete block design with four replications. Results. The M5N60 treatment resulted in the highest A. cruentus fresh yield and improved leaf yield by 90 and 151% compared to M5N0, and the average of the two no-manure input treatments M0N40 and M0N80, respectively, while M5N40 treatment improved S. macrocarpon fresh yield the best by 23% compared to M5N0. For O. gratissimum, no significant difference was found between urea-N microdose rates. Besides, urea fertilizer application timing affected neither fresh yields nor partial factor productivity for any studied ALVs species. Conclusions. Reduced combination of urea-N and cattle manure is a promising nutrient management practice for ALVs production in West Africa as it improved yields while saving fertilizer for smallholder vegetable farmers.
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 |