And The Moi University Grain Crops Research Team Welcome you to International Conference on CROP PRODUCTION ON ACID SOILS
Acid soils are characterized by low pH and mineral base saturation, plant mineral nutrient deficiencies, and, for most of the cases, mineral toxicities. Soil acidity can develop naturally depending upon the nature of the parental rock/material or leaching of bases from the soil profile. Human activity can also aggravate soil acidification. The low pH can impair plant growth, but its effect is subsumed under that of the nutrient deficiencies or toxicity.
Phosphorus (P), nitrogen (N), calcium (Ca), potassium (K) and magnesium (Mg) deficiencies are common in acid soils. For example, P levels in some acid soils range from 2 to 5 mg/kg soil, which is far below the optimal level of 10-15 mg/kg soil required for optimal production. Moreover, only about 20% of P fertilizer applied to the soil is available to the plant, the rest is fixed in clay minerals.
Aluminium stress is one of the major constraints to crop production on acid soils. This is because most soils contain aluminium minerals that become soluble at low pH, thus releasing the Al3+ into soil solution. For example, the Al saturation of particularly acid soils in Kenya is between 4 - 67 %, a level capable of reducing root growth in sorghum, which is affected by Al saturation level of about 20 %.
The crop production problems associated with soil acidity necessitate intensive research on increasing the productivity of such soils. Such research ranges from interventions, including liming to increase the pH, P-fertilizer or organic material application to improve nutrient status to searching for crop genotypes that may be grown on the soils with minimal amendments.
Moi University will host a conference on crop production in acid soils from 29th June to 4th July 2008. Foremost researchers in soil acidity and plant responses will gather to share experiences and information in this important area. They will present learned papers on the chemistry/physics, soil amendments, crop breeding and molecular biology. This will be an important occasion for the University, the country and the region, because the soil acidity and fertility problem is a major constraint to crop production in Africa.
The organizing committee for the conference will invite the University Management, researchers, the Minister for Agriculture and other senior policy makers and implementers to the conference with a view to enhancing stakeholder participation in seeking ways to improve crop production and food security.
Acid soils have low pH and base mineral saturation, plant mineral nutrient deficiencies, and for many of the
cases, mineral toxicities. Soil acidity can develop naturally depending upon the nature of the parental rock/
material or by leaching of bases from the soil profile. Human activities can also aggravate soil acidification.
The low pH can impair plant growth, but its effect is subsumed under that of the nutrient deficiencies or
mineral toxicity. Phosphorus (P), nitrogen (N), calcium (Ca), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg) and molybdenum
(Mo) deficiencies are common in acid soils.
Aluminium stress is one of the major constraints to crop production on acid soils, because its compounds
solubilise at low pH and release the phytotoxic Al3+ species, some of which remain in solution and others
adsorb to exchange sites on soil particles. This pool of ions forms the exchangeable Al3+.
Crop production problems associated with soil acidity necessitate research on increasing the productivity of
such soils. Such research ranges from interventions, including liming to increase the pH, P-fertilizer or organic
material application to improve nutrient status; to searching for crop genotypes that may be grown on the soils
with minimal amendments.
Moi University will host a conference on “Crop Production in Acid Soils” from 29th June to 4th July 2008. Some
of the world-acclaimed researchers on soil acidity and plant responses will gather to share experiences and
information through presentation of learned papers on the acid soil chemistry/physics, soil amendments, crop
breeding and molecular biology. Acid soil and/or nutrient deficiency experimental sites shall be visited as part
of the information-sharing exercise.
Some of the selected learned papers will include the following:
The conference organizing committee is negotiating with several established journals to publish the
papers presented at the conference as a special issue. The scientists that have been requested to read
papers should prepare them following the general guidelines outlined here. All papers should not exceed
30 double-spaced printed pages. The font type and size should be Times New Roman 12 ppt or similar,
preferably done in Microsoft (MS) Word®. Graphics should be preferably in gray scale format with good
contrast. Coloured graphics may also be submitted, especially if they illustrate particularly important
information that would be lost with conversion to gray scale. The organizers will require both electronic
and printed copies of all paper drafts. The draft electronic copies may be submitted by e-mail to the
addresses listed at the end of this information sheet by 20th June 2006. The final papers should be submitted
by 29th June 2008 for printing.
Presentations during the conference shall be made using MS Power Point®. The computers that will be used at the conference are “IBM” compatible and run on Microsoft® software.
The conference will be held at Hotel Sirikwa in ELDORET town, Kenya.
Kenya is located at the Eastern seaboard of Africa. Its altitude ranges between sea level and the ice-caped
peak of Mt Kenya, with interesting physiographic features such as the Gregorian rift valley, the expansive
Lake Victoria in the South-west, and Mt Elgon in the West.
Eldoret Town is located in Uasin Gishu district in the western part of the country: 0030' N, 35018' E ; at 2140
m above sea level. The mean temperature is 17.50C: the coldest months is July (mean minimum temperature;
100C) and the warmest month is February (mean maximum temperature 250C). Rainfall is moderately high
(900 mm - 1300 mm); from March to September. Therefore, relatively cold and wet periods, by local standards,
are expected during the time of the conference.
The town is served by an international airport that receives passenger flights from Nairobi, the political and
economic capital of Kenya. It is also linked to several major towns by all weather tarmarcked rods
Uasin Gishu and Trans Nzoia districts form the “bread basket” of Kenya. Uasin Gishu district is
characterised by farmland that was formerly dedicated to large-scale maize and wheat cultivation, but the
farms are rapidly being sub-divided into small-scale, subsistence holdings.
Hotel Sirikwa, is a medium level hotel, by international standards, with up to 120 rooms, offers standard
“western” type meals to patrons.
Moi University comprises several Campuses, three of which are located in town. The School of Agriculture
nad Biotecnology, and School of Science are located at Chepkoilel Campus. Most of the research on soil
acidity, among other stresses, is carried out in this Campus.
Contacts for more information:
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