Growing Tithonia diversifolia for fertility restitution of technosols from coltan mined soils of Gatumba, Rwanda. Third RUFORUM Biennial Conference 24 - 28 September 2012, Entebbe, Uganda

Abstract

The present study was conducted to evaluate the capacity of Tithonia diversifolia to mobilise nutrients and the ability of technosols to produce tithonia biomass for fertility restitution. A greenhouse pot experiment was conducted and tithonia green manure (T) was applied at 5 t dry matter (DM) ha -1 alone and in combination with TSP and ammonium sulphate (AS). After three months, Tithonia was harvested and plant tissues and soils were analysed in Rwanda and in Germany. Results showed that despite the poor nutrients status of pegmatite, it could give more tithonia biomass than its mixture with Lixisol Bt when amended. The accumulation of nutrients was found to be even higher in tithonia biomass produced on pegmatite