Effects of phosphorus fertilizer sources on cowpea and subsequent cereal crop productivity in semi-arid West Africa

A natural rock phosphate,'Kodjari' (RP), sparingly soluble, indigenous to Burkina Faso, and a commercial single superphosphate (SSP) fertilizer were studied at Farako-Ba in the Northern Guinea Savannah (NGS) and at Oipasse in the Sudan Savannah (SS) regions of Burkina Faso. A 3-year crop sequence either of cowpea, maize and sorghum or of cowpea, sorghum and sorghum was used, respectively, in the NGS and SS regions. The sorghum crop in the third year was not fertilized with any phosphorus (P) source. The objectives of the research were to study the direct and residual effects of the P fertilizers on soil fertility improvement in order to boost agricultural productivity in both regions. Cowpea daylength-insensitive cultivars, in both regions, and maize and sorghum in the NGS and SS regions, respectively, responded more strongly to SSP than to RP fertilizer treatments. The optimum rate of SSP and RP source was 21.8 kg P/ha and 43.6 kg P/ha, respectively, for cowpea in both regions. The optimum rates of phosphorus fertilizer applied in the second year to maize in the NGS and to sorghum in the SS region, in addition to the optimum rate of P applied to cowpea the previous year, was 10.9 kg P/ha of SSP or 43.6 kg P/ha of RP, and 21.8 kg P/ha of SSP or 43.6 kg P/ha of RP, respectively. Both P sources had significant residual effects for up to 2 years. The agronomic effectiveness of RP relative to SSP, in the year of application of both fertilizers, was greater for cowpea than for maize in the NGS region and similar for cowpea and sorghum in the SS region; it increased markedly for the two subsequent cereal crops in both regions. Cowpea fertilization with both P sources proved, therefore, to be effective in improving the soil fertility and boosting the productivity of cereal crops in the 3-year crop sequence.