2010/03/01 by Bernard Vanlauwe, B. Vanlauwe, A. Bationo +16 · 8 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Agricultural Innovations and Practices #Agriculture and Rural Development Research #Agronomic Practices and Intercropping Systems
paper · doi:10.5367/000000010791169998
crossref issued 2010/03/01 · crossref published 2010/03/01 · crossref published-online 2010/03/01 · crossref published-print 2010/03/01 · openalex publication_date 2010/03/01 · crossref created 2010/09/21 · crossref deposited 2025/03/04 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref indexed 2026/07/31 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
Traditional farming systems in Sub-Saharan Africa depend primarily on mining soil nutrients. The African green revolution aims to intensify agriculture through the dissemination of integrated soil fertility management (ISFM). This paper develops a robust and operational definition of ISFM based on detailed knowledge of African farming systems and their inherent variability and of the optimal use of nutrients. The authors define ISFM as a set of soil fertility management practices that necessarily include the use of fertilizer, organic inputs and improved germplasm, combined with the knowledge on how to adapt these practices to local conditions, aimed at maximizing agronomic use efficiency of the applied nutrients and improving crop productivity. All inputs need to be managed in accordance with sound agronomic principles. The integration of ISFM practices into farming systems is illustrated with the dual-purpose grain legume–maize rotations in the savannas and fertilizer micro-dosing in the Sahel. Finally, the dissemination of ISFM practices is discussed.