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Mineral‐nitrogen and phosphorus leaching from vegetable gardens in Niamey, Niger
Author(s) -
Predotova Martina,
Bischoff WolfAnno,
Buerkert Andreas
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of plant nutrition and soil science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.644
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1522-2624
pISSN - 1436-8730
DOI - 10.1002/jpln.200900255
Subject(s) - leaching (pedology) , nutrient , environmental science , silt , nitrogen , agronomy , chemistry , soil water , soil science , geology , biology , paleontology , organic chemistry
Urban and periurban agriculture (UPA) contributes significantly to meeting increasing food demand of rapidly growing urban populations in West African cities. The often intensive high‐input vegetable production within UPA results in large positive nutrient balances, being presumably linked to strong nutrient leaching which needs quantification. This study aimed at estimating leaching losses of mineral N and P in three representative urban gardens of Niamey, Niger, using ion‐exchange‐resin cartridges installed below the crop rooting zone at 0.6 m soil depth. In 2007, a year with below‐average annual rainfall (425 mm as compared to 542 mm), mean leaching of mineral N amounted to 5.9 and 7.3 kg N ha –1 for two gardens with > 80% sand fraction and only 2.2 kg N ha –1 for a garden with 40% silt and clay. Apparent annual P leaching was 0.7 kg P ha –1 in all three gardens. Additional multiannual studies are necessary to assess the effect of inter‐ and intraannual variation in precipitation on nutrient leaching in intensive UPA vegetable production of semiarid West Africa.