Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique (CNRST), Institut de l’Environnement et de Recherches Agricoles (INERA), Département Gestion des Ressources Naturelles et Systèmes de Production, INERA-Farako-Bâ, Laboratoire Sol-Eau-Plante (SEP), 01 BP 910 Bobo-Dioulasso 01, Burkina Faso
The decline in soil fertility and the rainfall deficit strongly limit the cultivation of organic cotton in Burkina Faso. Zaï, a water and soil fertility management technique, can be explored to improve soil and organic cotton productivity. The objective is to determine the effects of zaï on the evolution of the chemical properties of the soil and on the productivity of organic cotton. A trial was implemented in the North Sudanese zone of Burkina Faso in an experimental design in completely randomized Fisher blocks with three (3) treatments including L1 (plowing + 1 t/ha of compost), L5 (plowing + 5 t/ha of compost), ha of compost), Z1 (zaï+1 t/ha of compost). The parameters measured focused on carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, exchangeable bases, cation exchange capacity and soil pH and seed cotton yields. The study shows that plowing combined with 5 t/ha compost and zaï combined with 1 t/ha compost significantly improve the chemical properties of the soil. Plowing combined with 5 t/ha of compost (L5) presented the highest average yield (1114±65 kg/ha). Zaï and plowing combined with 1 t/ha of compost recorded identical average yields (782±81 kg/ha and 752±23 kg/ha). Zaï combined with 1 t/ha of compost can be vulgarized in the North Sudanese zone of Burkina Faso and can be a means of adapting to increasingly difficult rainfall conditions marked by pockets of drought.