Using appropriate fertilizer recommendations and effective fertilizer materials is important to meet nutrient requirements of maize and sustain soil fertility. Unlike other agro-ecological zones, no fertilizer recommendations have been developed for semi-arid zone in Tanzania, undermining the effort to target technologies in the specific biophysical conditions in which smallholder farmers operate. To fill this gap field experiments were carried out to develop fertilizer application rates for nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) and to identify the effective P source for this zone at Molet and Njoro Villages. Randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications was adopted in this study. Triple Super Phosphate (TSP) fertilizer was used to test various application rates: 0, 7.5, 15, 30, 45 and 60 kg P/ha. For P-source trial, Minjingu Mazao, Minjingu hyperphosphate and TSP were tested at 0 and 30 kg P/ha for each fertilizer material. For the N-fertilizer trial, treatments included control (no fertilizer), 20, 40, 60, 80 and 120 kg N/ha and it was conducted at Njoro alone. In 2015 about 292 farmers (Female 134 and Male 158) in 3 villages demostrated the fertilizer technology on their baby plots using the application rates developed on the mother sites.
