Integrated Soil Fertility Management Practices

The common bean is an important food and cash crop in many regions of the world. In Africa alone, it provides food for more than 100 million people and is a critical source of income for rural households. Common bean yields, however, have dropped in the last ten years. This decline is the result of poor soil fertility and nutrient depletion as well as high incidences of insect pests, key among them being the bean stem maggot (BSM) and the black bean aphid (BBA). To address soil nutrient depletion and the accompanying declining agricultural productivity, integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) has been adapted as a framework for enhancing crop productivity through combining fertilizer use with other soil fertility management technologies, adapted to local conditions. The book evaluates the influence of soil fertility treatments on yield and yield components of the common bean. Additionally, to establish the potential links between soil fertility and crop protection, the effect of ISFM interventions on the incidence of the BSM and the BBA is also being assessed.