Module Code: ASM6122

1.     Module Title: Integrated Soil fertility management_

2.     Year: 1     Semester:      1                          Credits:__10__     

3.     First year of presentation:    2013               Administering School:  SAFS  

4.     Pre-requisite or co-requisite modules: All modules taught in BSc programs related to soil and agroforestry sciences

 

5.      Module coordinator: Prof Francois-xavier Naramabuye

6.      Allocation of study and teaching hours See Notes of Guidance                                                              

Total student hours   ___100____	Student hours	Staff hours
Lectures	15	30
Seminars/workshops	5	5
Practical classes/laboratory	5	5
Structured exercises	10	15
Set reading etc.	20	-
Self-directed study	10	-
Assignments – preparation and writing	15	15
Examination – revision and attendance	10	10
Field visit and report	10	10
Total	100	90 hours

6.1          Brief description of aims and content (not more than five lines)

 

This module provides to the student, knowledge and skills related to linking the soil needs in terms of nutrients and environmental conditions conducive toward a sustainable soil fertility management. This module provides to the student the ability to understand the factors controlling availability of crop nutrients under various soil conditions.

6.2       Learning Outcomes

            Knowledge and Understanding

            Having successfully completed the module, students should be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

1.     Understand the components of the entire integrated soil fertility management including: economical and socio-political issues.

2.     Fertilizer manufacturing and environmental issues associated with fertilizer use

3.     Analyze weather data in different agro-ecological zones and understand its relation with agroforestry systems

Cognitive/Intellectual skills/Application of Knowledge

      Having successfully completed the module, students should be able to:

4. Draw a clear and accurate linkage between the soil fertility status and environmental related factors.
5. Develop environmental friendly soil fertility management taking into account: the nature of the soil and the suitable crops, economically profitable crops

Communication/ICT/Numeracy/Analytic Techniques/Practical Skills

      Having successfully completed the module, students should be able to:

6. Develop and compute fertilizers recommendations for different soil problems and different crops.
7. Running a field trial to confirm the theoretical fertilizers recommendations
8. Writing a scientific report on integrated soil fertility management issues.

General transferable skills

     Having successfully completed the module, students should be able to:

9. Autonomously planning and studying of assignments and research questions
10. Development of research projects in connection to soil fertility management.
11. Understanding of weather data collection and analysis
12. Innovation of trials to solve specific soil fertility problems.
13. Integrate soil science knowledge with simple field observations and records.

 

7.     Indicative Content

Climate and soil Component:  Introduction to integrated soil fertility management (ISFM);, definition and principles; Climate analysis; Soil inventory and classification; Soil and climate interactions.

 

Emerging challenges Component:  Fertilizer manufacture and environmental issues; Soil fertility evaluation, recommendations and nutrient use efficiency; Impact of soil management and fertilizer use to environment; Critical review and case study on ISFM in different countries.

 

Ecological soil fertility management Component: Organic amendments; Crop rotations, Cover cropping; Green manuring; Animal manures; Composting and integrated use of organic wastes; Role of soil micro and macro organisms in soil fertility management; oil Health  and soil Quality for crop growth.

 

Assignments and practicals

1. Field work: Visiting and studying selected sites on the basis of particular soil fertility problems and environmental problems.
2. Green house work:

o   Compare different integrated soil fertilization packages in terms of soil nutrients availability, crop growth and impact on environmental related soil chemistry

o   Comparing the effect of various organic amendments on soil fertility parameters. Soil analysis before and after incubation will include

3. Laboratory work: Carry out soil chemical parameters measurement, soil physical parameters measurement as well as soil microbial parameters measurement.
4. Data analysis, soil and other results interpretation and fertilizer recommendation
5. Report write-up

 

Two writing assignments

• Assignment 1 (students to work in groups of two)
  Write a review paper on the challenges faced by the integrated soil fertility management in the world, Africa, Eastern Africa and Rwanda.
• Assignment 2 (individual)
  Write a review paper on successful cases of integrated soil fertility management

9     Learning and Teaching Strategy

Lectures, Practicals and Field studies      

10            Assessment Strategy

The module will be assessed on the basis of a three-hour written examination (40% of the final mark) and the continuous assessment and assignments (60% of the final mark). Students are required to achieve a pass mark (of 60%) on both the final written examination and the continuous assessment and assignments.

 

10 Assessment Pattern

Component	Weighting (%)	Learning outcomess covered
In-course assessment:
Laboratory assignment	10	1,7,9
On-farm field research	10	3,5,6,7,8,13
Writing assignments	20	3,6,7,10,11,12,13
Final assessment:	60	1,2,3,4,13

 

11        Strategy for feedback and student support during module 

Individual feedback on laboratory analysis and field work, group and individual feedback on writing assignments. On the individual essay students receive feedback on scientific level, quality of writing and presentation (content, structure, use of pictures and graphs)

12        Indicative Resources

Core Text (include number in library or URL) (incl. ISBN)

Daniel Hiller, 1998. Environmental Soil Physics.Academic Press.

Bationo A. 2004. Managing nutrient cycles to sustain soil fertility in sub-Saharan Africa. Academy Science Publishers (ASP), TSBF.

Gichuru et al. 2003. Soil fertility management in Africa: A regional Perspective. Academy Science Publishers (ASP), TSBF.

Okalebo et al. 2002 Laboratory methods of soil and plant analysis: a working manual. TSBF

Ahrens, C.D. 1994. Meteorology today. An introduction to weather, climate and the environment, 5^th ed., West Publishing, St. Paul, MN

Brady, N.C. and Weil, R.R., 2002. The nature and properties of soils, thirteenth edition. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River NJ. pages 75-120,. pages 720-724, pages 840-870

Handouts

1.       Donald L. Sparks.1993. Advances in Agronomy, Volume 49.American Society of Agronomy Monographs Committee. Academic Press, INC. Harcourt Brace & Company.

2.        Bationo, A. 1996. Long-term fertilizer use in sub-Saharan Africa. . International training program on plant nutrient management for sustainable agriculture, October 14-19, 1996; organized by IFDC in Co-sponsorship with Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock Development and Marketing, Government of Kenya

 

3.              Byrnes BH. 1996. Soil testing and plant analysis. International training program on plant nutrient management for sustainable agriculture, October 14-19, 1996; organized by IFDC in Co-sponsorship with Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock Development and Marketing, Government of Kenya

4.     Byrnes B.H. 1996. Environmental issues of fertilizer use. International training program on plant nutrient management for sustainable agriculture, October 14-19, 1996; organized by IFDC in Co-sponsorship with Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock Development and Marketing, Government of Kenya

5.     Bationo A. Management of phosphorus fertilizers.

6.     Naramabuye F-X. 2004. Use of organic amendments as ameliorants for soil acidity in laboratory and field experiments.University of Kwa-Zulu natal.

 

Background Texts (include number in library or URL) (inc ISBN)

1.     Brady N.C. and Weil R.R. 2002. The nature and properties of soils. 13^th ed. Prentice Hall, NJ Havlin et al. 1998. Soil fertility and fertilizers: an introduction to nutrient management. 6^th ed. Prentice Hall.

2.     UNIDO/IFDC 1998. Fertilizer manual. Kluwer Publishers

3.     Woomer PL and Swift MJ. 1994. The Biological Management of Tropical Soil    Fertility. Wiley and Sons: New York

4.     Hartemink, A.E., 2003. Soil fertility decline in the tropics - with case studies on plantations. ISRIC-CABI Publishing, Wallingford. Pages 80-86, 92-96 and 103-107.

5.     van Wambeke, A., 1988. Site selection and soil variability, First training workshop on site selection and characterization. IBSRAM Technical Notes no. 1. IBSRAM, Bangkok. Pages. 43-51.

 

Journals

A. Ndoli, F. Naramabuye, R. V. Cao Diogo, A. Buerkert and R. Nieder4. 2013. Greenhouse experiments on soybean (Glycine max) growth on Technosol substrates from tantalum mining in Rwanda. International Journal of Agricultural Science Research Vol. 2(5), pp. 144-152, May 2013 Available online at http://academeresearchjournals.org/journal/ijasr ISSN 2327-3321 ©2013 Academe Research Journals

Nilani L. De Silva, Naramabuye Francois.X. and Nicolas A. Jackson. 2013. People & Profit Striking a Balance. Published by Nordic ePublisher, Kammakargatan 44, 111 60 Stockholm, Sweden. ISBN 978-91-978436-3-8

Paulmann, I., Weber, T.K.D., Naramabuye, F., Ndoli, A., Gakwerere, F., Nieder, R. (2011): Spurenelementbelastung von Böden im Bergbaugebiet Gatumba, Ruanda. In: Böden verstehen, Böden nutzen, Böden fit machen, Jahrestagung der Deutschen Bodenkundlichen Gesellschaft Berlin, 03-09/09/2011. http://eprints.dbges.de/630/

Ndoli, A., Naramabuye, F., Mochoge, B., & Nieder, R.2012. Growing Tithonia diversifoliafor fertility restitution of technosols from coltan mined soils of Gatumba, Rwanda. Third RUFORUM Biennial Meeting 24 - 28 September 2012, Entebbe, Uganda.

Salstein, D.A. 1995. Mean properties of the atmosphere. In Composition, chemistry and climate of the atmosphere. Singh, H.B. (ed.), Van Norstand Reinhold, NY, pp 19-49.

Sanchez, P.A., Palm, C.A. and Buol, S.W., 2003. Fertility capability soil classification: a tool to help assess soil quality in the tropics. Geoderma, 114(3-4): 157-185

Barrera-Bassols, N. and Zinck, J.A., 2003. Ethnopedology: a worldwide view on the soil knowledge of local people. Geoderma, 111(3-4): 171-195.

Naramabuye, FX; Haynes, RJ; Modi, AT, 2008. Cattle manure and grass residues as liming materials in a semi-subsistence farming system Agriculture Ecosystems and Environment vol. 124, no. 1-2, pp. 136-141

Naramabuye, FX.and Haynes, RJ. 2007. The liming effect of five organic manures when incubated with an acid soil. Zeitschrift fur Pflanzenernahrung und Bodenkunde, vol. 170, no. 5, pp. 615-622

Naramabuye F.X and Haynes Richard J.2006. Effect of organic amendments on soil pH and Al solubility and use of laboratory indices to predict their liming effect (Soil Science, An interdisciplinary Approach to Soil Research. Vol 171(10) page:754-763

F.X. Naramabuye and R.J. Haynes. 2005. Short term effects of three animal manures on soil pH and Al solubility Australian Journal of Soil research,Vol 44,no 5

Naramabuye F.X, Mutesi J.P. 2007. Agroforestry for Oxisols fertility amelioration, a case study on the effects of Ficus benghalensis trees on soil pH, Organic C and P of an Oxisol of Rwanda (Southern Province, Huye, Tumba), ISAR Rwanda Institute for Agricultural Research 

 

Key websites and on-line resources

            Teaching/Technical Assistance

• Laboratory assistance
• Driver for field visits

            Laboratory space and equipment

• Soil laboratory facilities: School  of SARDAE
• Equipment for soil and climate field analysis

 

Computer requirements

• Computers for group assignments and reports;         Others

13: Please add anything else you think is important      

14:  Teaching Team

Prof. Francois Naramabuye (Module leader); Dr. Hamudu Rukangantambara