Water and fertilizer influence on yield of grain sorghum varieties produced in Burkina Faso

Grain sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] is the major cereal crop used in the Central Plateau of Burkina Faso to produce the traditional beer called “dolo”. Experiments combining five water management techniques (WMT) and four fertilizer treatments (FT) in a randomized complete block design with a split-plot arrangement of treatments were conducted from 2003 to 2005. Water management techniques were allocated to main plots and FT to subplots. The objective was to determine the best cropping practice to optimize yields for two red grain sorghum varieties, IRAT9 and ICSV1001 (Framida), commonly used for dolo production. Results indicated that water conservation using tied-ridges produced higher grain yields. The highest yield benefit was 241 kg ha−1 for Framida. In the IRAT9 field, the highest yield benefit of 395 kg ha−1occurred in the lowest rainfall year (736 mm) of 2005. In all years, microdose consisting of application of 19 kg N ha−1, 19 kg P ha−1 and 19 kg K ha−1 as complex fertilizer NPK at plant...