Abstract

Maize cultivation under soil conditions in Benin requires high quantity of nutrients. There is therefore a need to develop adequate fertilizer recommendations in order to achieve the level of productivity that could meet the needs of the increasing population in the rural area. The present study aims to update the mineral fertilizer formulas recommended for maize production in northern Benin. An experimental program was carried out in the year 2012 on tree main soil types: ferric Luvisols, gleyic Luvisols and eutric Gleysols in two agroecolological zones of Northern Benin. The experimental design was a randomized completed bloc with four replicates, installed in farmers’ fields with the specific objective to validate five N, P, K based fertilizer formulas. The maize variety EVDT-97 STRW was used. Biophysical and economic analyses completed using the seasonal stool of the DSSAT model allowed to identify a series of efficient options. The results of variance analyses relating to the effect of different fertilizer formulas on maize grain yields showed that the rate simulated by the DSSAT model (115-30-75) produced the highest grain yields regardless of the soil types and agro-ecological zones. The ratio of observed-to-simulated values are close to 1 and the mean standard prediction error (NRMSE) between the observed and the simulated yields was comprised between 11% and 20% for gleyic Luvisols but between 21% and 30% for the other soil types. The results of the biophysical and economic analysis showed that N80P30K35 was the most efficient fertilizer formula for sustainable maize production in Northern Benin.

Keywords: Soil fertility; DSSAT; Fertilizer recommendation; Maize; Northern Benin