Farmers’ practices for managing the fertility of degraded soils in the western cotton zone of Burkina Faso

Abstract

Farms are facing a progressive degradation of soil fertility. To remedy this, many soil
management practices are implemented by producers. The purpose of this study was
to understand farmers’ perceptions and practices for managing the fertility of degraded soils. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 362 farmers selected
on the basis of seed cotton yields at 9 sites in the Mouhoun and Tuy provinces of
Burkina Faso. The study revealed that producers perceive the state of soil degradation
through soil color (16.59 to 28.45%), yields (98.05 to 99.14%) and soil appearance
(29.64 to 30.73%). The application of manure (66.47 to 71.12%) and mineral fertilizer
(100%) on cotton and maize were perceived as the most widespread farmers’ soil
management practices. Short-term fallowing (25.15 to 29.31%) is increasingly
practiced, as is the creation of stone strips (58.54 to 63.77%). In order to ensure better
soil management, the promotion of organic fertilizer production systems through
adapted approaches is necessary.