Collaborative Project of JIRCAS and ICRISAT
Project Leader: Ryoichi Matsunaga, ICRISAT, Niamey, Niger
Food security in the semi-arid zone of West Africa is most severely threatened. The basic agricultural system in the region is agro-pastoral. The sandy soils in the semi-arid tropical Africa have a minimal content of nutrient-retaining medium, ie, clay. In such soils, organic matter (OM) plays an important role as the source and the retention medium of soil fertility. The supply of OM such as crop residues and manure is very limited, especially during the dry season. Short-term solutions have mostly been sought especially for the agriculture-related problems in Africa. As a result, fundamental research issues such as the dynamics and the retention of organic nitrogen in soils, and the nature of the interaction between organic and inorganic fertilizers have not been thoroughly addressed. To overcome this problem, the Japan International Research Centre for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS) has initiated a collaborative project with ICRISAT.
JIRCAS Sahelian Team in the village. 
Evaluation of indigenous and exotic plant genetic resources (PGR) from the view point of soil fertility preservation such as biomass production as a source of OM, acquisition of hardly available nutrients, and prevention of soil degradation, nitrogen-fixing ability, is also important to implement the proposed project.
- Carry out research on the roles of OM on the soil fertility maintenance by the elucidation of the structure and function of organic-inorganic complexes in sandy soils
- Systematically evaluate the PGR with emphasis placed on legume crops for efficient utilization in the agricultural systems.
- Based on the research outputs, develop affordable and sustainable soil fertility management technologies/options targeting sandy soils in the Sahel zone of Niger.
Cattle transport plant nutrients from the
rangelands/fallow lands to the crop fields
in the Sahel. 
- Provide scientific information on the characteristics of sandy soils in the region and present situation of soil fertility of farmers' fields managed by traditional methods, ie, corralling system, fallow system, etc.
- Elucidate the role and function of OM in the sandy soil regions.
- Identify indigenous and introduced PGR for beneficial functions to enhance soil fertility preservation in the region.
- Identify technical improvements to enable more efficient and sustainable application of OM, such as plant residues and/or cattle manure in the agro-pastoral systems.
- Enhance the partners' capacity to formulate and implement research-for-impact through collaborative activities and training.
Prediction of optimum strategies for OM management, a model integrating OM dynamics into plant nutrient dynamics, enhanced PGR utilization for optimized OM management, and improved organic matter and nutrient use efficiency in crop and livestock systems are important research spillovers.
Organic resources applied to the farm lands; Cow dung (left), millet residues (middle) and farmyard manure (right) in the Sahel.
- Identification of the characteristics of ecosystems and evaluation of local farmers' practices related to soil fertility management in the agro-pastoral zone.
- Analysis and evaluation of soil fertility of sandy soils in the semi-arid zone.
- Evaluation of plant resources with beneficial functions to the maintenance of soil fertility in the sandy soils.
- Technology development for sustainable soil fertility management.
