TY  - PRO
AU  - Palm,C.A.
AU  - Carter,S.E.
AU  - Murwira,H.K.
AU  - Waddington,S.R.|Murwira,H.K.|Kumwenda,J.D.T.|Hikwa,D.|Tagwira,F.
ED  - Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maiz y Trigo (CIMMYT), Mexico DF (Mexico)
TI  - Organic matter management:  From science to practice
SN  - 970-648-006-4
U1  - 631.45 
PY  - 1998///
CY  - Harare (Zimbabwe)
PB  - Soil Fert Net|CIMMYT
KW  - Africa
KW  - Crop management
KW  - AGROVOC
KW  - Organic matter
KW  - Research
KW  - Soil deterioration
KW  - Southern Africa
KW  - Soil fertility
KW  - Farming systems
KW  - CIMMYT
KW  - Soil Fert Net
N2  - Organic inputs have provided the main source of nutrient for crops in most traditional farming systems in Africa. Organic materials influence nutrient availability by nutrients added, through mineralization-immobilization patterns, as an energy source for microbial activities, as precursors to soil organic matter, and by reducing phosphorus sorption of the soil. These organic nutrient sources are increasingly being produced in insufficient quantities and qualities to meet crop demands, however. The shortfall in nutrient supply is often met from applications of inorganic fertilisers where available.|The challenge is to combine organics of differing quality with mineral fertilisers to optimise nutrient availability to plants. A systematic framework for investigating the combined use of organic and inorganic nutrient sources includes farm surveys, characterization of the quality of organic materials, assessment of the fertilizer equivalency value based on the quality of organics, and experimental designs for determining optimal combinations of nutrient sources. The desired outcome are tools that can be used by researchers, extensionists, and farmers for assessing options of using scarce resources for maintaining soil fertility and improving crop yields.|
ER  -