Academic Journal
View in EDS

Urea-ka: replacing inorganic nitrogen fertilizer with Azolla pinnata maintains rice yields with reduced input costs in the Senegal River Valley

Bibliographic Details
Title: Urea-ka: replacing inorganic nitrogen fertilizer with Azolla pinnata maintains rice yields with reduced input costs in the Senegal River Valley
Authors: Xorla S. Ocloo, Moussa Mbaye, Abou Sy Dit Tid Mouline Counta, Gonzalo M. Vazquez-Prokopec, Nicolas Jouanard, Momy Seck, Silvain Leonard Thierry Sow, David J. Civitello
Source: International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, Vol 23, Iss 1 (2025)
Publisher Information: Taylor & Francis Group
Publication Year: 2025
Collection: Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles
Subject Terms: Azolla, intercropping, rice cultivation, sustainable agriculture, Agriculture
Description: Sustainability is essential for the creation of a secure, sufficient, and equitable global food supply and overreliance on expensive, synthetic fertilizers is a key challenge. Rice is a nitrogen-intensive crop, but Southeast Asian farmers are intercropping the nitrogen-fixing floating fern Azolla into rice paddies as a biofertilizer. However, despite its success and global distribution, Azolla is not widely used elsewhere. We assessed the feasibility of Azolla-rice intercropping in Saint-Louis, Senegal using a mixed-methods approach. We conducted interviews with farmers to assess their perceptions of Azolla-rice farming while they participated in an experiment to compare rice yields among four treatments: control plots (the existing practices of the farmer), Azolla plots (existing practices and adding fresh Azolla), low input plots (a 50% reduction of urea), and low input + Azolla plots (reduced urea + Azolla) in farmers’ paddies located in the Senegal River Valley. Across all five sites, there was a significant increase of 7.57% ± 4.62% SE (p-value = 0.05) in rice grain yield with Azolla additions. Replacing urea with Azolla caused a modest increase of 4.17% ± 4.61% SE (p-value = 0.18) in rice grain yield while reducing input costs by 33%. Our results suggest that Azolla-rice has high potential to improve productivity and livelihoods in Senegal.
Document Type: article in journal/newspaper
Language: English
Relation: https://doaj.org/toc/1473-5903; https://doaj.org/toc/1747-762X; https://doaj.org/article/045907d3c75c4b179108e642c71ec1c3
DOI: 10.1080/14735903.2025.2469325
Availability: https://doi.org/10.1080/14735903.2025.2469325
https://doaj.org/article/045907d3c75c4b179108e642c71ec1c3
Accession Number: edsbas.4D54F3CF
Database: BASE
FullText Text:
  Availability: 0
CustomLinks:
  – Url: https://doi.org/10.1080/14735903.2025.2469325#
    Name: EDS - BASE (ns324271)
    Category: fullText
    Text: View record from BASE
Header DbId: edsbas
DbLabel: BASE
An: edsbas.4D54F3CF
RelevancyScore: 978
AccessLevel: 3
PubType: Academic Journal
PubTypeId: academicJournal
PreciseRelevancyScore: 977.8095703125
IllustrationInfo
Items – Name: Title
  Label: Title
  Group: Ti
  Data: Urea-ka: replacing inorganic nitrogen fertilizer with Azolla pinnata maintains rice yields with reduced input costs in the Senegal River Valley
– Name: Author
  Label: Authors
  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Xorla+S%2E+Ocloo%22">Xorla S. Ocloo</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Moussa+Mbaye%22">Moussa Mbaye</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Abou+Sy+Dit+Tid+Mouline+Counta%22">Abou Sy Dit Tid Mouline Counta</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Gonzalo+M%2E+Vazquez-Prokopec%22">Gonzalo M. Vazquez-Prokopec</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Nicolas+Jouanard%22">Nicolas Jouanard</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Momy+Seck%22">Momy Seck</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Silvain+Leonard+Thierry+Sow%22">Silvain Leonard Thierry Sow</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22David+J%2E+Civitello%22">David J. Civitello</searchLink>
– Name: TitleSource
  Label: Source
  Group: Src
  Data: International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, Vol 23, Iss 1 (2025)
– Name: Publisher
  Label: Publisher Information
  Group: PubInfo
  Data: Taylor & Francis Group
– Name: DatePubCY
  Label: Publication Year
  Group: Date
  Data: 2025
– Name: Subset
  Label: Collection
  Group: HoldingsInfo
  Data: Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles
– Name: Subject
  Label: Subject Terms
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Azolla%22">Azolla</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22intercropping%22">intercropping</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22rice+cultivation%22">rice cultivation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22sustainable+agriculture%22">sustainable agriculture</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Agriculture%22">Agriculture</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Description
  Group: Ab
  Data: Sustainability is essential for the creation of a secure, sufficient, and equitable global food supply and overreliance on expensive, synthetic fertilizers is a key challenge. Rice is a nitrogen-intensive crop, but Southeast Asian farmers are intercropping the nitrogen-fixing floating fern Azolla into rice paddies as a biofertilizer. However, despite its success and global distribution, Azolla is not widely used elsewhere. We assessed the feasibility of Azolla-rice intercropping in Saint-Louis, Senegal using a mixed-methods approach. We conducted interviews with farmers to assess their perceptions of Azolla-rice farming while they participated in an experiment to compare rice yields among four treatments: control plots (the existing practices of the farmer), Azolla plots (existing practices and adding fresh Azolla), low input plots (a 50% reduction of urea), and low input + Azolla plots (reduced urea + Azolla) in farmers’ paddies located in the Senegal River Valley. Across all five sites, there was a significant increase of 7.57% ± 4.62% SE (p-value = 0.05) in rice grain yield with Azolla additions. Replacing urea with Azolla caused a modest increase of 4.17% ± 4.61% SE (p-value = 0.18) in rice grain yield while reducing input costs by 33%. Our results suggest that Azolla-rice has high potential to improve productivity and livelihoods in Senegal.
– Name: TypeDocument
  Label: Document Type
  Group: TypDoc
  Data: article in journal/newspaper
– Name: Language
  Label: Language
  Group: Lang
  Data: English
– Name: NoteTitleSource
  Label: Relation
  Group: SrcInfo
  Data: https://doaj.org/toc/1473-5903; https://doaj.org/toc/1747-762X; https://doaj.org/article/045907d3c75c4b179108e642c71ec1c3
– Name: DOI
  Label: DOI
  Group: ID
  Data: 10.1080/14735903.2025.2469325
– Name: URL
  Label: Availability
  Group: URL
  Data: https://doi.org/10.1080/14735903.2025.2469325<br />https://doaj.org/article/045907d3c75c4b179108e642c71ec1c3
– Name: AN
  Label: Accession Number
  Group: ID
  Data: edsbas.4D54F3CF
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.4D54F3CF
RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1080/14735903.2025.2469325
    Languages:
      – Text: English
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Azolla
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: intercropping
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: rice cultivation
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: sustainable agriculture
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Agriculture
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Urea-ka: replacing inorganic nitrogen fertilizer with Azolla pinnata maintains rice yields with reduced input costs in the Senegal River Valley
        Type: main
  BibRelationships:
    HasContributorRelationships:
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Xorla S. Ocloo
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Moussa Mbaye
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Abou Sy Dit Tid Mouline Counta
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Gonzalo M. Vazquez-Prokopec
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Nicolas Jouanard
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Momy Seck
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Silvain Leonard Thierry Sow
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: David J. Civitello
    IsPartOfRelationships:
      – BibEntity:
          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 01
              Type: published
              Y: 2025
          Identifiers:
            – Type: issn-locals
              Value: edsbas
            – Type: issn-locals
              Value: edsbas.oa
          Titles:
            – TitleFull: International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, Vol 23, Iss 1 (2025
              Type: main
ResultId 1