Crop

Field trial results

Researcher

Maize

On good soils near Kpong, compared to control (no treatment, and attacked by fall armyworm), OFA gave bigger yield increases (+102%) than the reference organic fall armyworm treatment (+69%).

Prof K Fening, University of Ghana, not published, available from HJA Africa

Maize

On good soils near Legon, compared to control with no fertilizer, OFA gave bigger yield increases (+41%) than inorganic fertilizer (+30%), though sample sizes were small resulting in differences not being statistically significant at the 5% level.

Prof F Kumaga, University of Ghana, not published, available from HJA Africa

Maize

On poor soils which can be challenging for OFA used on its own for nutrient hungry crops, as OFA is a biostimulant rather than providing bulk nutrients) near Tamale, OFA was used as a booster with 50% of the standard amount of inorganic fertilizer and gave similar yields to using the full standard amount of inorganic fertilizer, saving almost half the total fertilizer cost.

Dr O Amoako, CSIR-SARI, published in the journal American Journal of Plant Sciences

Rice

On irrigated fair soils near Kpong, compared to control (no fertilizer) OFA increased yield by 37% and profit by 53% while inorganic fertilizer increased yield by 43% but profit by only 4% due to its high cost. The best result for both yield and profit was using 50% of the usual amount of OFA as a booster to 50% of the usual amount of inorganic fertilizer, increasing yield by 67% and profit by 75%.

OFA also gave resilience benefits as it shortened time to harvest by up to 9 days, eliminated rice blast disease and increased water use efficiency.

A commercial rice farmer (written up by HJA Africa), not published, available from HJA Africa

Okra

On fair soils near Kpong, compared to control (no fertilizer), OFA gave bigger yield increases (+97%) than inorganic fertilizer (+53%).

Prof D McCarthy, University of Ghana, not published, available from HJA Africa.

Cowpea

On poor soils near Tamale, OFA gave big increases in yield (+55%), increasing crop profit margin compared to control (no fertilizer) from 27% to 124%.

Dr E Akley, CSIR-SARI, published in the journal Agronomy

Mango

On fair soils near Somanya, OFA (used together with copper-based fungicide) eliminated anthracnose and bacterial blackspot (BBS). [Additional information: OFA gives other key benefits for mango, including inducing floration, dealing with mealybugs, increasing tree health and giving big increases in yields].

Dr J Hongar, West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement at University of Ghana, not published, available from HJA Africa

Oil Palm seedlings (up to 1 year old)

On poor soils in western Ghana, OFA used as a booster with reduced amounts of inorganic fertilizer produced similar growth results to the standard amount of inorganic fertilizer. [Additional information: OFA also shortened time to transplanting from nursery to field by up to 3 months.]

An oil palm plantation company, not published, available from HJA Africa.

Rubber seedlings (up to 1 year old)

On poor soils in western Ghana, OFA produced the best growth results of the treatments tested, and solved fungal challenges.

Dr E N Tetteh, CSIR-CRI, not published, available from HJA Africa (2 papers)