Sorghum yield response to kraal manure combined with mineral fertilisers in eastern Uganda

Abstract

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) is a strategic food security crop in the drought prone areas of Uganda. However, farmers’ yields are much lower than what is reported in the research stations. Low soil fertility is identified as a major contributor to the low grain yields but little has been done to address this problem. The use of kraal manure obtained from cattle that are an integral component of the farming systems in sorghum growing areas is not being exploited probably due to farmers reluctance to take advantage of synergetic relationship between crop and livestock production units. The yield responses of sorghum to kraal manure and mineral fertiliser applications are largely unknown in Uganda and besides, application rates have not been determined. This study was conducted to evaluate sorghum yield response to kraal manure (KM) combined with mineral nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) fertilisers in Kumi district, eastern Uganda. On-farm experiments were conducted for three rain seasons; from August 2000 to December 2001. We found that combining 2.5 t KM with 22.5 kg N and 8.5 kg P ha⁻¹ gave the highest grain yields (2.1 and 4.0 t ha⁻¹) for the first and second seasons of 2001, respectively. Further studies are however, needed to establish the feasibility of this input combination for increased and sustained sorghum production.