Evidence-based Soils Agronomy for Sustainable Crop Production in Muranga County, Kenya

The project ‘Improved Agricultural Measurement for Evidence-based Investments in Improved Crop Production in Kenya’ was funded by The Nature Conservancy. The project used soil-plant diagnostic method developed at the World Agroforestry (ICRAF) to quantify soil health constraints for maize production and targeting interventions to improve soil health for agronomic gain. We tested soil and maize plant tissues to estimate macro and micronutrients and compared it with optimum plant nutrient requirements. The project was piloted in in Muranga County, Kenya.The Nature Conservancy (TNC) project dataset contains laboratory results of 524 top (0-20 cm) and sub soil (20-50 cm) soil and 206 plant tissue properties. The samples are from targeted 170 farms in Nginda, Kambiti in Maragua sub county and Kangema and Kigumo sub-counties in Muranga county of Kenya in East Africa. The datasets include MIR spectra, plant macronutrients and micronutrients measured at the World Agroforestry (ICRAF) Soil and Plant Spectral Diagnostic Laboratory and extracatable nutrients results from Crop Nutrition Laboratory Services.