TY  - JOUR
AU  - Owusu Danquah, Eric
AU  - Beletse, Yacob
AU  - Stirzaker, Richard
AU  - Smith, Christopher
AU  - Yeboah, Stephen
AU  - Oteng-Darko, Patricia
AU  - Frimpong, Felix
AU  - Ennin, Stella Ama
TI  - Monitoring and Modelling Analysis of Maize (Zea mays L.) Yield Gap in Smallholder Farming in Ghana
JO  - Agriculture
VL  - 10
IS  - 9
SN  - 2077-0472
CY  - Basel
PB  - MDPI AG
M1  - FZJ-2020-03244
SP  - 420 -
PY  - 2020
AB  - Modelling and multiple linear regression were used to explore the reason for low maize yield in the Atebubu-Amantin and West Mamprusi Districts of Ghana, West Africa. The study evaluated maize yields on twenty farms against measures of soil fertility, agronomic attributes and soil water availability. Correlations between yield, soil fertility, rain, crop density, and weed biomass, were low, and no single factor could explain the low yields. A 50-year virtual experiment was then set up using the Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM) to explore the interactions between climate, crop management (sowing date and nitrogen fertilization) and rooting depth on grain yield and nitrate (NO3-N) dynamics. The analysis showed that a lack of optimal sowing dates that synchronize radiation, rainfall events and nitrogen (N) management with critical growth stages explained the low farm yields.
LB  - PUB:(DE-HGF)16
UR  - <Go to ISI:>//WOS:000578205100001
DO  - DOI:10.3390/agriculture10090420
UR  - https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/884768
ER  -