Sustainable soil fertility practices for smallholder farmers

Abstract

Introduction of improved farming technologies to the resource constrained farmers was meant to increase the agricultural output by use of improved and high-yielding farming systems. These smallholder farmers contribute significantly toward food security in the developing countries, so their production methods and output are of concern to food security. However, these newly introduced technologies are high input systems and do not sync with the majority of smallholder farmers in the developing countries. Hence, productivity is still low among smallholder farmers due to the high financial investment per season required for these improved technologies. One of these technologies that smallholder farmers have adopted is the use of synthetic fertilizers, that mainly feeds the crop whilst not feeding the soil, which has driven soil degradation among the smallholder farmers. Furthermore, most of these smallholder farmers use these fertilizers at sub-optimal levels, which has further driven nutrient mining. Therefore, this Research Topic focused on compiling current research on sustainable soil fertility management practices and technologies that are applicable to resource poor smallholder farming systems.Published articles from this topic can be grouped into four sub-themes as follows:

KEYWORDS agricultural productivity, environment, organic matter, socio-economic challenges, soil health