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Management of a Continuously Cropped Forest Soil Through Fertilizer Use

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 October 2008

P. K. Kwakye ,
E. A. Dennis  and
A. E. Asmah
P. K. Kwakye
Affiliation:
Department of Soil Science, School of Agriculture, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana
E. A. Dennis
Affiliation:
Soil Research Institute (CSIR), Academy Post Office, Kwadaso, Kumasi, Ghana
A. E. Asmah
Affiliation:
Department of Soil Science, School of Agriculture, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana
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Summary

Phosphorus, followed by potassium, were the plant nutrients that most limited yields during the third decade of a long-term fertilizer experiment on groundnut, maize and cassava conducted on an Ultisol in Ghana. Application of sulphate of ammonia significantly decreased soil pH, thus reducing crop yields. Superphosphate or mulch applied alone consistently increased the yields of all three crops. Application of potash increased the yield of cassava throughout the cropping period, but the potash × mulch interaction depressed yields in two of the three cropping seasons. Use of crop rotation, grass mulch and fertilizer, including small amounts of lime, enabled crop yields and soil fertility to be maintained at a fairly high level under continuous cropping.

Type
Research Article
Information
Experimental Agriculture , Volume 31 , Issue 3 , July 1995 , pp. 325 - 332
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

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