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Rice consumption in Africa is expected to continue rising, particularly in regions where productivity remains low due to declining soil fertility, which is reducing yields in rice cropping systems. This study evaluated the fertility of rice-growing soils in Benin to support sustainable and optimal soil management. A total of 700 georeferenced composite soil samples were collected from rice plots across 14 communes in Benin’s three rice-growing basins, analyzing organic carbon, total nitrogen, available phosphorus, exchangeable potassium, pH, and cation exchange capacity. Soil fertility indexes, derived from geospatial analysis, ranged from 0.37 to 0.92 in the northern basin, 0.43 to 0.99 in the northwestern basin, and 0.24 to 0.83 in the southern basin, classifying the soils as low to moderately fertile, with isolated high-fertility areas. Geostatistical analysis revealed variations in soil fertility both within and between basins, with fertility levels strongly influenced by available phosphorus, exchangeable potassium, organic carbon, and cation exchange capacity. Fertilizer application strategies should be tailored to the soil fertility index map of each basin, and further research is needed to determine optimal fertilizer doses for sustainable rice production based on these findings.
Anago et al. (Wed,) studied this question.