Benson Mochoge

• Professor at Kenyatta University

Potato production is hindered by soil degradation and nematode infestation. Mineral fertilizers and synthetic nematicides are costly and cause negative impacts on humans and the environment, while organic fertilizers are less effective for soil health and nematode management. This study demonstrates the contribution of black soldier fly frass ferti...

Nitrogen mineralization potential is important so as to prevent over-fertilization that could lead to groundwater contamination or under-fertilization that could lead to poor nutrient provision by crops leading to low yields. Three soil types were selected on the basis of groups, agro-ecological zone, organic matter content and land use. The soil s...

Potato production faces major challenges from inadequate soil fertility, and nematode infestation, yet synthetic fertilizers and nematicides are costly and harmful to the environment. This study explored the potential of chitin-fortified black soldier fly-composted organic fertilizer (BSFCOF) as a multipurpose organic fertilizer amendment for enhan...

Biochar is an effective soil amendment with capabilities of boosting carbon sequestration and enhancing soil fertility, thus enhancing plant growth and productivity. While numerous studies have documented the positive effects of biochar on improving soil properties, a number of studies have reported conflicting results. Therefore, the current study...

Too little nitrogen (N) is a threat to crop productivity and soil fertility in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Nitrogen budgets (NB) and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) are critical tools for assessing N dynamics in agriculture and have received little or no attention in the region. Data were collected from smallholder farmers clustered into two categories...

Improving nutrient management of soils is important in subsistence farming systems in the tropics due to declining soil fertility resulting from continuous cropping coupled with inadequate nutrient replenishment. Balancing nutrient inputs with crop removal is crucial in reducing the build-up of nutrients and minimises nutrient losses through differ...

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of Farm Yard Manure (FYM), mineral fertilizers (nitrogen and phosphorus), and their combination on the production of Gadam sorghum in a Kenya Semi-arid region of Makueni and Machakos counties. The first experiment evaluated the response of sorghum to N and P application at four levels (0, 25, 50, 75 kg ha-1)...

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of Farm Yard Manure (FYM), mineral fertilizers (nitrogen and phosphorus), and their combination on the production of Gadam sorghum in a Kenya Semi-arid region of Makueni and Machakos counties. The first experiment evaluated the response of sorghum to N and P application at four levels (0, 25, 50, 75 kg ha-1)...

The Abuja Fertilizer Declaration in 2006 recommended the increase of fertilizer use from the current practice for Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to achieve food sufficiency and improve soil fertility status. However, the current recommended rates of fertilizer have not been evaluated for specific crops on their potential to reduce the yield gap and optim...

Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) is one of the established metrics for benchmarking management of Nitrogen (N) in various systems. Numerous approaches to calculate NUE exist, making it difficult to compare the performances of systems depending on the methodology used. This study adopted the conceptualized framework by European Union Nitrogen Expert Pa...

The sustainable utilisation of black soldier fly (BSF) for recycling organic waste into high-quality protein feed and organic fertiliser with a low environmental footprint is gaining momentum worldwide. Although BSF farming is becoming a rapidly growing agribusiness, studies on the BSF farming’s economic aspects are limited. This study analysed the...

Although black soldier fly frass fertilizer (BSFFF) is effective on crop performance, information on nitrogen (N) mineralization and nutrient release capacity of soils amended with BSFFF is lacking. This study utilized field incubation experiments to investigate the ammonification, nitrification, microbial populations, and quantities of nutrients r...

ABSTRACT This study was conducted to examine the effects of Lime, Minjingu Rock Phosphate (MRP) and inorganic NPK fertilizer on maize productivity, profitability and phosphorus use efficiency (PUE) based on grain yield (PUEY) and economic returns (PUEE). The study was carried out for two rain seasons in Kenya and the treatments were Lime, MRP, N...

The effect of biochar on tree growth and soil physical properties as indicated in literature is still outstanding. Information on the effect of biochar on tree growth is limited, and the available literature has recorded conflicting results. Therefore, a field experiment using Casuarina equisetifolia (Casuarina) as the test crop under different bio...

This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of nitrogen (N) forms: ammonium, nitrate, and urea on maize performance, N uptake and use efficiency, and the grain protein content. The experiment was laid out as a split-plot with the whole plot factor being the three fertilizer treatments and the subplot being four N levels (0, 25, 50, and 100 kg N ha−1)...

Nitrogen (N) is a paramount macronutrient for plant growth, development and production. This study was carried out to determine the effect of N fertilizer at different rates on maize crop yield, N content and N use efficiency (NUE) in Rongo sub-county (Kambija and Koderobara sites), Western Kenya. The treatments were N (CAN) at four levels (0, 25,...

The black soldier fly larvae (BSF) (Hermetia illucens L.) is one of the most efficient recyclers of organic waste into quality organic fertiliser. However, no information exists on the performance of BSF frass-fertiliser on crop production. Such information is crucial for the development of commercial BSF frass-fertiliser and its integration into e...

Efforts to recycle organic waste using black soldier fly (BSF) larvae into high-quality alternative protein ingredients in animal feeds and organic fertilizers have gained momentum worldwide. However, there is limited information on waste manipulation to increase nutrient retention for enhanced larval performance and frass fertilizer quality. In th...

Black soldier fly frass fertilizer (BSFFF) is increasingly gaining momentum worldwide as organic fertilizer. However, research on its performance on crop production remains largely unknown. Here, we evaluate the comparative performance of BSFFF and commercial organic fertilizer (SAFI) on maize (H513) production. Both fertilizers were applied at the...

The use of black soldier fly frass fertilizer (BSFFF) is being promoted globally. However, information on nitrogen (N) fertilizer equivalence (NFE) value and synchrony of N mineralization for crop production remains largely unknown. Comparative studies between BSFFF and commercial organic fertilizer (SAFI) were undertaken under field conditions to...

This study investigated the effects of biochar and manure applied singly or together on soil biochemical properties, Casuarina equisetifolia seedling growth and seedling quality. Therefore, a nursery experiment consisting of Prosopis juliflora biochar and cattle manure treatments at 0% (control), 10% biochar, 20% biochar, 10% manure, 10% biochar...

Black soldier fly (BSF) (Hermetia illucens L.) is one of the most efficient bio-waste recyclers. Although, waste substrate amendments with biochar or gypsum during composting process are known to enhance nutrient retention, their impact on agro-industrial waste have not been documented. Hence, this study focuses on a comparative effect of agro-indu...

The nitrogen cycle in soil is an integral part of the overall cycle of N in nature. The primary source of N is the atmosphere where the strongly bonded gas molecule N is predominately gas (78.08%). Total N content in soils ranges from 0.02% in the subsoil and more than 2.5% in peats; ploughed layers of most cultivated soils contain between 0.06 and...

A greenhouse pot experiment was conducted to determine the effect of agricultural lime and goat manureon soil acidity and maize growth parameters using soils from Kavutiri-Embu County. Nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers at the rates of 50 and 70 kg ha-1 , respectively, and goat manure at three rates (0, 5 and 10 mg ha-1) and agricultural lime (CaC...

Soil fertility degradation remains the major biophysical cause of declining per capita crop production on smallholder farms in sub-Saharan Africa. Improving the nutrient management of soils is therefore important in subsistence farming in the tropics as they are very often depleted of nutrients especially due to unfavorable weather conditions. This...

Recently, near infrared reflectance (NIR) and mid-infrared (MIR) spectroscopy techniques are increasingly introduced as convenient and simple non-destructive techniques for quantifying several soil properties. This study uses MIR method to predict pH, soil organic C, total N, Al, Ca, Mg and K, CEC and soil texture for soil samples collected in Sud-...

The present study was conducted to evaluate the capacity of Tithonia diversifolia to mobilise nutrients and the ability of technosols to produce tithonia biomass for fertility restitution. A greenhouse pot experiment was conducted and tithonia green manure (T) was applied at 5 t dry matter (DM) ha-1 alone and in combination with TSP and ammonium su...

Field and laboratory incubation studies were conducted to determine the effect of different acid soil managementpractices; liming (L), combined N and P fertilizers (NP), and goat manure (M) application, for maize production on thedynamics of mineral N, microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN) and microbial biomass carbon (MBC). A randomisedcomplete block d...

Runoff and soil erosion are responsible for about 83% of the land degradation worldwide. Many smallholder farmers in arid and semi-arid areas of Africa often use inexpensive indigenous soil and water conservation (ISWC) techniques to control runoff and erosion. This paper is a review of the ISWC methods and categorizes them into three: those suitab...

A study to investigate N and P mineralisation in an acid mollic Andosol was conducted through laboratory incubation for 120 days. Soil samples were taken from 0-15, 15-30 and 30-60 cm depths. Treatments applied were lime, urea and triple superphosphate (TSP) at rates equivalent to 2.5 t ha-1, 50 and 75 kg ha-1, respectively. Soil moisture of the tr...

The influence of soil-incorporated Cassia siamea prunings on nutrient status of maize leaves, grain and yield was studied in an alley cropping experiment in semiarid Machakos, Kenya, during the 1988 long and short rainy seasons. The trial was established in 1983 and in all the seasons Katumani composite B maize was sown, except in the short rains o...

The rate of decomposition of Cassia siamea Lam. prunings in an alley cropping system was investigated using litter bags in the semiarid area of the Machakos District, Kenya, during the short rains of 1988 and the long rains of 1989. Cassia siamea had been grown as the hedgerow species since 1983. Loppings were used as mulch incorporated into the so...

The influence of soil-incorporated Cassia siamea prunings on nutrient status of maize leaves, grain and yield was studied in an alley cropping experiment in semiarid Machakos, Kenya, during the 1988 long and short rainy seasons. The trial was established in 1983 and in all the seasons Katumani composite B maize was sown, except in the short rains o...

In a laboratory experiment, the effect of nitrogen fertilizers on the leaching patterns and input-output budgets of plant nutrients in an acid soil (dystric cambisols) was studied. An amount of N corresponding to 80 kg/ha was applied to the top surface of undisturbed soil columns of 30 cm layers with a diameter of 14.4 cm as Ca(NO3)2 or (NH4)2SO4....

In order to simulate the behaviour of nitrate movement in soils, two loessal soils were used which differed in their physical and chemical fertility. Undisturbed soil columns of 30 cm in length and 15 cm diameter were sampled. An unsaturated steady-state water flow in the columns was established and maintained by a Darcian flow of 5 cm solution/day...

A study to investigate the transport and the transformation of two N¹⁵-tagged N-fertilizers (Ca(NO3)2 and (NH4)2SO4) was carried out in the laboratory at 4° and 23°C. Undisturbed soil columns from the upper 30 cm of neutral agricultural and acid forest loess soils were used. An unsaturated steady state water flow in the columns was established and...

A study, to investigate the remaining fertilizer‐N in undisturbed soil columns from agricultural and forest soils after 60 days of percolation (see part I), was carried out. The columns were fertilized with two 15‐N tagged nitrogen fertilizers (Ca(NO 3 ) 2 and (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 ) at a rate of 80kg N/ha. The investigation involved the distribution and...

The influence of soil-incorporated Cassia siamea prunings on nutrient status of maize leaves, grain and yield was studied in an alley cropping experiment in semiarid Machakos, Kenya, during the 1988 long and short rainy seasons. The trial was established in 1983 and in all the seasons Katumani composite B maize was sown, except in the short rains o...