Tailored fertilizer advice for Kenya’s diverse soils and crops
Smallholder farmers remain the backbone of Kenya’s food security, but their productivity is stifled by one-size-fits-all fertilizer guidelines that fail to reflect the country’s diverse soils, weather patterns, and farming systems. The result has been low returns, inefficient input use, and declining soil health. A new collaboration between the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) and CGIAR scientists is
Tailored fertilizer advice for Kenya’s diverse soils and crops
Smallholder farmers remain the backbone of Kenya’s food security, but their productivity is stifled by one-size-fits-all fertilizer guidelines that fail to reflect the country’s diverse soils, weather patterns, and farming systems. The result has been low returns, inefficient input use, and declining soil health.
A new collaboration between the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) and CGIAR scientists is aiming to change that. By combining decades of agronomic trials with open-access soil data, historical climate records, and seasonal forecasts, the partnership is developing machine learning models that can deliver site-specific fertilizer recommendations to farmers.