Nirere, Drocelle, Mourice, Sixbert K., Paradelo Perez, Marcos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2768-0136, Fashaho, Aloys and Amuri, Nyambilila A. (2026) Socioeconomic and agronomic drivers of soil fertility for sustainable soybean–maize rotations among smallholder farmers in Rwanda. Scientific Reports. ISSN 2045-2322 (doi:10.1038/ s41598-026-64662-x)

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Abstract

Soil fertility decline and yield variability remain the major challenges for smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet the influence of socioeconomic and agronomic drivers is not fully understood. This study evaluated the effects of gender, education level, fertilizer use, and cultivation duration on soil fertility and soybean–maize rotation yields in Rwanda. A survey of 384 farmers was conducted in Nyagatare and Huye districts using a semi-structured questionnaire and field-based soil assessments. In Nyagatare, 67.7% of farmers use of both N and P fertilizers, while 66.7% use farmyard manure (FYM). The adoption of FYM use was significantly associated with male farmers (Χ2 = 22.7, p < 0.001). In Huye, adoption of mineral fertilizer was low (35.5% for N, and 37.5% for phosphorus “P”), while 74% of farmers use FYM. Moreover, male farmers exhibited significant associations with the use of P fertilizers (Χ2 = 6.1, p = 0.01), and FYM (Χ2 = 14.2, p < 0.001). Fields that received FYM exhibited greater soil pH with 0.2 ± 0.1 units, soil OC (+ 0.2%, p = 0.01). Fields cultivated for 10 years presented significantly higher CEC (+ 0.5 cmolc kg−1, p = 0.02). These results demonstrated that farmers’ socio-economic characteristics and fertilizer management practices are closely associated with soil properties and crop yields in Nyagatare and Huye districts. Future research should extend to the field experiments to validate these relationships and optimize the development of evidence-based soil fertility management strategies.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	agroecological zones, bulk density, farmyard manure, nutrient management, yield variability
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor S Agriculture > S Agriculture (General) S Agriculture > SB Plant culture
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Engineering & Science Faculty of Engineering & Science > Natural Resources Institute
Last Modified:	20 Aug 2026 10:32
URI:	https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/54032

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