Université Nazi BONI (UNB), Laboratoire d’étude et de recherche sur la fertilité du sol et des systèmes de production (LERF-SP), 01 BP 1091 Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso
The high demand for labor and the low availability of organic fertilizer reduce the effectiveness of manual zaï. To overcome these constraints, the effect of adding Loudetia-based compost enriched with Burkina natural phosphate (Burkina phosphate) under mechanized zaï on soil moisture content and sorghum yield was evaluated in 2022 and 2023 at Arbollé in northern Burkina Faso, using an experimental system of scattered blocks on eight (8) farmers.: T0 = control; T1 = manual zaï + producer organic manure + microdose; T2 = manual zaï + producer organic manure; T3 = mechanized zaï + producer organic manure + microdose; T4 = manual zaï + Loudetia compost; T5 = manual zaï + Loudetia compost + microdose and T6 = mechanized zaï + Loudetia compost + microdose. Mechanized zaï + producer’s organic manure + microdose (T3) and mechanized zaï + Loudetia compost enriched with Burkina phosphate (BP) + microdose (T6) gave the best grain yields ranging from 1213.13 k/ha to 1533.67 kg/ha, and the best soil moisture levels of 14.06% and 13.74% respectively at 45 JAS. Also, manual zaï + Loudetia compost enriched with BP + microdose (T5), made it possible to obtain average yields of 1004.62 kg/ha. Mechanized zaï + Loudetia compost + microdose could therefore help increase sorghum productivity. The effectiveness of this combination on yield could be improved by adding BP to the compost.