The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research-Savanna Agricultural Research Institute (CSIR-SARI) is testing enhanced-efficiency fertilisers that could help Ghanaian maize farmers improve yields while using less nitrogen, potentially easing production costs and reducing nutrient losses.
The three-year research project is comparing eight fertiliser treatments to determine whether farmers can maintain or increase maize production with a 20% reduction in nitrogen application, from 90 kilogrammes per hectare to 72 kilogrammes per hectare.
The trials are also assessing the potential to improve soil health and reduce nitrogen losses that can contribute to environmental pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
The research comes amid the need to improve agricultural productivity while helping farmers use costly production inputs more efficiently. If the treatments prove effective and affordable, they could offer farmers an alternative to conventional fertiliser practices, although their commercial value will depend on the final yield results, product prices and availability.
Dr Edwin Korbla Akley, Senior Research Scientist in Soil Microbiology, Soil Health and Agroecology at CSIR-SARI and Co-Principal Investigator of the project, disclosed this during a field day at the institute’s experimental farm at Nyankpala in the Northern Region.
Farmers from Nyankpala, Kpalsogu, Tingoli, Kpana and Preguyili attended the demonstration, where researchers explained the fertiliser treatments, their sources and recommended application methods.
The treatments under evaluation include Super Urea, Kynoch Plus Urea, Anvol combined with Yara Urea, Organic Seaweed combined with Yara Urea, Super Gro combined with Yara Urea, conventional Yara Urea and an unfertilised control.
Dr Akley, who also leads CSIR-SARI’s Soil Science Programme, said the effectiveness of fertiliser depended on applying the right source at the right rate, at the right time and in the right place.
He explained that nitrogen could be lost through ammonia volatilisation, leaching and microbial processes before crops absorbed the nutrients.
Such losses reduce fertiliser-use efficiency and could increase the amount farmers spend without obtaining corresponding gains in crop production.
The research is therefore assessing whether enhanced-efficiency fertilisers, including products containing nitrification inhibitors, can keep more nitrogen available to maize plants for longer and reduce losses to the environment.
A parallel trial is examining the use of mineral phosphorus from Triple Super Phosphate and biological phosphorus supplied through arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, in combination with enhanced-efficiency fertilisers, conventional urea and organic amendments.
The objective is to determine how different nutrient sources can work together to improve nutrient uptake and crop performance.
The research team is targeting yield improvements of between 20% and 35%, although the results remain preliminary as the multi-season trials continue.
To account for changing rainfall patterns and shorter growing seasons, the project is using Wangdata, a 90-day early-maturing maize variety.
Dr Akley said the project adopted a participatory approach, involving farming communities in the research process to ensure that the findings could respond to farmers’ practical needs.
Following the initial trials, the researchers plan to select the four best-performing treatments for on-farm evaluation with local farmers before considering commercial distribution.
The wider study will also examine sustainable soil management practices, including maize-soybean crop rotation and the use of millet as a cover crop to improve soil health and utilise residual nitrogen.
The project is being implemented by CSIR-SARI in collaboration with the University of Tennessee in the United States, with funding from the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research through the Enhanced Efficiency Fertilizer Consortium.
Farmers who participated in the field day expressed interest in adopting the fertiliser products and application methods if the results justified the cost.
Mr Mohammed Sibdow Wunibiyeli, a farmer from Kpalsogu, said farmers would be willing to purchase the products if the cost was justified by higher maize yields. He said he planned to share the knowledge gained with other farmers in his community.
Madam Maria Rose Sumani, a farmer from Nyankpala, said the demonstration had improved her understanding of the fertilisers under evaluation and the importance of correct application.
She said adopting improved fertiliser practices could help farmers increase yields and improve their livelihoods.
