Abstract
Abstract Participatory development of sustainable soil fertility (SF) management practices requires building bridges between science and indigenous knowledge. Whereas scientific SF indicators are reasonably standardized, indigenous SF indicators are site‐specific and system‐specific. Furthermore, the process of indigenous SF evaluation is very time consuming. This study therefore aimed at investigating the compatibility between local and analytical SF indicators, and at optimizing the process of indigenous SF assessment. Thirteen cotton plots were evaluated by famers on a scale from 0 ( fertile ) to 5 ( degraded ) and sampled for physico‐chemical characterization. Farmers identified 13 SF indicators related to soil, crop status, biological activity and management. Of these, 10 were retained to calculate a local SF index (LFI). Clay and silt content, pH water and P‐Bray explained 88% of the total variance in LFI, indicating good yet incomplete compatibility between the indigenous and scientific approaches. Because of redundancy among local indicators, it was shown that the LFI could be estimated using one pedo‐indicator, one bio‐indicator and one phyto‐indicator without significant loss of accuracy. However, a minimum local indicator dataset composed of six indicators was recommended to allow for data cross‐checking. There was a trade‐off between the number of indicators and the number of farmers needed to estimate the LFI. There was a reasonable agreement between local and analytical fertility indicators, even though farmers' perception appeared rather more based on the effect and consequences of SF than on its actual status. Although compatible, analytical indicators should be translated into variables similar to local indicators in order to facilitate communication. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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Claims 8
Claim · model-written summary
Farmers identified 13 fertility indicators related to soil, crop status, biological activity and management.
- Taxon
- cotton
Gossypium hirsutumt0 - Outcome
- 13 SF indicatorse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Farmers identified 13 SF indicators related to soil, crop status, biological activity and management.”
t0“Cotton‐Based Systems”
Claim · model-written summary
Clay and silt content, pH water and P‐Bray explained 88% of variance in the local fertility index.
- Taxon
- cottonGossypium hirsutumt0
- Compound
- P‐Braye0
- Outcome
- variance in LFIe0
- Value
- 88%e0
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Clay and silt content, pH water and P‐Bray explained 88% of the total variance in LFI”
t0“Cotton‐Based Systems”
Claim · model-written summary
The local fertility index could be estimated from one pedo, one bio and one phyto indicator without significant accuracy loss.
- Taxon
- cottonGossypium hirsutumt0
- Outcome
- LFIe0
- Comparator
- without significant loss of accuracye0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“the LFI could be estimated using one pedo‐indicator, one bio‐indicator and one phyto‐indicator without significant loss of accuracy”
t0“Cotton‐Based Systems”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors recommended six local indicators to permit data cross checking.
- Taxon
- cottonGossypium hirsutumt0
- Outcome
- a minimum local indicator dataset composed of six indicatorse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“a minimum local indicator dataset composed of six indicators was recommended to allow for data cross‐checking”
t0“Cotton‐Based Systems”
Claim · model-written summary
Indicator number traded off against farmer number for estimating the index.
- Taxon
- cottonGossypium hirsutumt0
- Outcome
- number of farmers needed to estimate the LFIe0
- Comparator
- number of indicatorse0
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“There was a trade‐off between the number of indicators and the number of farmers needed to estimate the LFI.”
t0“Cotton‐Based Systems”
Claim · model-written summary
Local and analytical fertility indicators showed reasonable agreement.
- Taxon
- cottonGossypium hirsutumt0
- Outcome
- reasonable agreemente0
- Comparator
- analytical fertility indicatorse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“There was a reasonable agreement between local and analytical fertility indicators”
t0“Cotton‐Based Systems”
Claim · model-written summary
Farmers appeared to judge the effects and consequences of fertility more than its actual status.
- Taxon
- cottonGossypium hirsutumt0
- Outcome
- farmers' perceptione0
- Qualifier
- effect and consequences of SFe0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“farmers' perception appeared rather more based on the effect and consequences of SF than on its actual status”
t0“Cotton‐Based Systems”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors recommend translating analytical indicators into variables resembling local indicators.
- Taxon
- cottonGossypium hirsutumt0
- Outcome
- analytical indicators should be translated into variables similar to local indicatorse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“analytical indicators should be translated into variables similar to local indicators in order to facilitate communication”
t0“Cotton‐Based Systems”