Chair group Plant Production Systems
The vision of Plant Production Systems is to integrate biological knowledge to analyse and design sustainable production systems for crops (including integration with livestock), focused on resource use efficiency and equitable management of natural resources.
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Interesting article(s)
Surviving on Half a Hectare of Land: An Introduction to the Issues Surrounding Smallholder Farming in Malawi
Not everyone dealing with agricultural issues in Malawi appreciates the fact that smallholders in this country face challenges which are unique in Africa. No other country in Sub-Saharan Africa has population densities of up to 250 ...
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The theoretical potential for tailored fertilizer application. The case of maize in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Adjusting crop nutrient rates to local differences in soil fertility and yield potential is considered a promising way of improving fertilizer use efficiency in smallholder agriculture. Despite its obvious appeal, the benefits of this approach have not been evaluated empirically. In the absence of appropriate data, the theoretical potential of nutrient tailoring needs to be evaluated, and suitable models exist to do this. Such analysis may provide a benchmark for expectations of success and would form a valuable starting point for reflection and debate on the limitations of current data, models, and assumptions.
This study presents a theoretical ex-ante assessment of the short-term economic benefits of fertilizer adjustments to differences in nutrient and water constraints, under the assumption that these are the only determinants of nutrient response. Combining two calibrations of a mathematical production function with digital maps of predicted nutrient and water availability, economically optimum macro-nutrient rates and resulting maize yields were calculated across a theoretical representation of soils across Sub-Saharan Africa.
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Latest publications
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The role of nitrogen fixation and crop N dynamics on performance and legacy effects of maize-grain legumes intercrops on smallholder farms in Tanzania
European Journal of Agronomy 141 (2022). - ISSN 1161-0301 -
The theoretical potential for tailored fertilizer application. The case of maize in Sub-Saharan Africa
Field Crops Research 288 (2022). - ISSN 0378-4290 -
A framework to understand the social impacts of agricultural trade
Sustainable Development (2022). - ISSN 0968-0802 - p. 1 - 13.