11/05/15

Organic or chemical fertiliser? African soils need both

Soil Food security agriculture multimedia.jpg

Copyright: Neil Cooper / Panos

By: Lou Del Bello

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<div id="article-introduction">
<h1>Organic or chemical fertiliser? African soils need both</h1>
<h4>By: Lou Del Bello</h4>
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<p><iframe loading="lazy" frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/204944345&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe><br />
<em>If you are unable to listen to this audio, please update your browser or <a href="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/204944345/download?client_id=b45b1aa10f1ac2941910a7f0d10f8e28&oauth_token=1-16343-47894121-334d8206d82f348">click here to  download the file</a></em> <em>[7.8 MB]</em></p>
<p>African <a href="https://www.scidev.net/agriculture/">agriculture</a> often involves ‘nutrient mining’, a term used to describe the failure to replace the soil nutrients that crops remove as they grow. Over time, soils degrade and productivity declines, threatening <a href="https://www.scidev.net/agriculture/food-security/">food security</a> in increasingly populated Africa.</p>
<p>Bernard Vanlauwe, director of the Central Africa hub of the Nigeria-based International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, says that to boost farm productivity and keep soils healthy in the long term, the ongoing conflict about whether it is best to use organic or chemical fertilisers must end.</p>
<p>Soils, he says in this audio opinion, need both. The secret to enriching soils without <a href="https://www.scidev.net/environment/pollution/">polluting</a> the <a href="https://www.scidev.net/environment/water/">water</a> system with an excess of fertiliser is not about their nature — chemical or organic — but about how they are used.<br />
<div class="related_widget"><h3 class="widgettitle">You might also like</h3><ul><li><a href="https://www.scidev.net/global/news/africa-s-soils-to-be-digitally-mapped/">Africa’s soils to be digitally mapped</a></li><li><a href="https://www.scidev.net/global/news/soil-degradation-issues-swept-aside-say-experts/">Soil degradation issues ‘swept aside’, say experts</a></li><li><a href="https://www.scidev.net/global/opinions/implications-of-nutrition-report/">The research implications of the Global nutrition report</a></li></ul></div></p>

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<p>This article was originally published on <a href="https://www.scidev.net" target="_blank">SciDev.Net</a>. Read the <a href="https://www.scidev.net/global/multimedia/organic-or-chemical-fertiliser-african-soils-need-both/" target="_blank">original article</a>.</p>
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If you are unable to listen to this audio, please update your browser or click here to download the file [7.8 MB]

African agriculture often involves ‘nutrient mining’, a term used to describe the failure to replace the soil nutrients that crops remove as they grow. Over time, soils degrade and productivity declines, threatening food security in increasingly populated Africa.

Bernard Vanlauwe, director of the Central Africa hub of the Nigeria-based International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, says that to boost farm productivity and keep soils healthy in the long term, the ongoing conflict about whether it is best to use organic or chemical fertilisers must end.

Soils, he says in this audio opinion, need both. The secret to enriching soils without polluting the water system with an excess of fertiliser is not about their nature — chemical or organic — but about how they are used.