Nutrient Management for Grain Legume Crop Production in Africa

Grain legumes are an important source of dietary protein and income for farmers in most parts of sub-Saharan Africa. In the past, grain legumes have been grown mainly as subsistence food crops, but there has been a rapid increase in their commercial importance over the past 5 years, mainly driven by increased demand from the agro-processing industry. The ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen makes grain legumes an excellent component within the farming systems dominated by maize because they provide supplementary nitrogen.

Despite the major opportunities that grain legume crops provide to improve human nutrition, household income and soil N budgets in Africa, their contribution has been curtailed by several factors including low priority given to proper nutrient management. This is because grain legumes have been considered a secondary crop to cereal crops, and commonly promoted as crops that require no fertilizer application. Little investment has been made in research to establish the best nutrient management practices for the major grain legume crops under variable soil fertility conditions in Africa. There are currently major programs focusing on improving grain legume production and productivity through breeding and seed systems development (Tropical Legumes Project), and germplasm and inoculants distribution (N2-Africa). The proposed project will use seed funds to initiate activities with the Tropical Legumes and the N2- Africa Projects to influence and highlight the important role of nutrient management in enhancing productivity of grain legumes and increasing their role in supplying N through BNF. A main focus will be on on-farm field experiments dealing with (i) P management including source and rate; (ii) the role of ‘starter’ N; and (iii) role of other secondly and micronutrient on yield and BNF. This will provide IPNI a key entry point in grain legume research in Africa. The project will be implemented through Msc students in collaboration with the University on Nairobi and Sokoine University in Tanzania.