Response of chickpea (Cicer aritienum l.) to sulphur and zinc nutrients application and Rhizobium inoculation in north western Ethiopia

In sub-Saharan Africa, plant nutrient deficiency, due to nutrient mining, is a major growth limiting factor for crop production. As a result, some soils become non responsive to Rhizobial inoculation. In an effort to find out possible correction, a field experiment was carried out on-farm, during 2016/17 growing season, at Gondar Zuria woreda in Tsion and Denzaz Kebeles to evaluate the effect of Rhizobium inoculation, S and Zn application on yield and yield parameters, nodulation, N and P uptake on chickpea.

Introduction

I’m just back from the 50th anniversary celebrations at the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan, Nigeria where I was honoured to give a talk. It was a great opportunity to profile the work of N2Africa and to meet many scientists and students – in particular the IITA N2Africa team.

Nodumax

The NoduMax factory continues to manufacture and market quality soyabean inoculant to Nigeria, West African neighbours and venturing into various other SSA region countries.

Production. With the present set-up, annual production capacity is 16 tons or 0.5 ton weekly. This can be increased by deploying more autoclaves, extending the production months and automating the present hand filling activity. To meet the demand foreseen in 2018 onwards, Just in Time Logistics and production planning will become increasingly important.

Symbiotic effectiveness of rhizobia from chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) and phenotypic characteristics of faba bean (Vicia faba L.) nodulating rhizobia

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) and faba bean (Vicia faba L.) are the most important food legumes grown in Ethiopia. Their growth and yield are mainly affected by available soil nitrogen, while they symbiotically associate with soil bacteria known as rhizobia and fix atmospheric nitrogen to supplement their nitrogen requirements. However, effectiveness of this symbiosis depends on rhizobium strains, host legumes and other biotic and abiotic factors.

Analysis and revision of the N2Africa focal adaptation trial survey, a tool for monitoring technology performance and untangling yield variability

N2Africa is a large-scale project with the aim of putting nitrogen fixation to work for smallholder farmers growing legume crops in Africa. It is a science-based “research-in-development” project, with constant learning loops to find the best technology for every farmer. The main goal of N2africa’s agronomic research is to understand the major constrains on legume productivity, with a special focus on the causes of yield variability and how to reduce it.

Announcement

The Matasa Fellows Network announced a call for young African researchers to apply to become a fellow. See the announcement here.
 
Applications from young African researchers who are interested in addressing the challenges of young people and employment in Africa are being accepted until 7 December 2017.