Organic and Inorganic Fertilizers Induced Yield Increment of Two Pearl Millet Varieties in Sudanian and Sahelian Agro-ecological Zones in Mali

Soil fertility is inherently low in sub Saharan Africa. The objective of this study was therefore to determine millet yield for two varieties in each zone using organic and inorganic fertiliser in two agro-ecological zones in Mali. A two-year experiment was conducted at Agricultural Research Station of Sotuba and Cinzana in 2013 and 2014. A combination of two pearl millet varieties and four fertilizer treatments were used. The fertilizers treatments used were: T1 Control (no application); T2 MANURE of 23:10:17 (5000 kg/ha); T3 NPK of 15: 15: 15 (50 kg/ha) and T4 combination of NPK + MANURE. The experiments were conducted in a randomised complete block design (RCBD) with four replications in a plot size of 10 m x 4.2 m. The varieties evaluated at Sotuba station were Sanioni, an improved local variety and Cho, a local variety while at Cinzana station Sosat, an improved variety form IER /ICRISAT and IBV8001, and an improved variety from ICRISAT were used. At Sotuba high grain with NPK+MANURE (1948 kg ha -1 ) followed by NPK (1281 kg ha -1 ), MANURE (1130 kg ha -1 )and the Control (813 kg ha -1 ). In 2014, the grain yield NPK+MANURE) was 1602 kg ha -1 , followed by NPK (1502 kg ha -1 ), MANURE (1466 kg ha -1 ) and the control (1440 kg ha -1 ). The grain yield gap for the Control treatment in 2013 (813 kg ha - 1) and in 2014 (1440 kg ha 1 ) was high compared to the NPK+MANURE, MANURE and NPK treatment grain yield gap for the same years. In Cinzana In 2013, higher grain yield with the treatments of NPK+MANURE, (1440 kgha -1 )> NPK (1429 kg ha -1 )> MANURE (1416 kg ha -1 )>Control (1276 kg ha -1 ) were observed . In 2014, the highest grain yield with NPK+MANURE (1915 kg ha -1 ) followed by NPK (1561 kg ha -1 ), MANURE (1523 kg ha -1 1 ) and Control (1121 kg ha -1 ). The grain yield gap for the combined NPK+MANURE treatment in 2103 (1440 kg ha - 1) and in 2014 (1915 kg ha 1 ) was high compared to the others for the fertilizer grain yield gap for both years.