The zaï cropping system that involves precision manure placement in small excavated soil pits is designed to restore the productivity of encrusted and degraded soils of the Sahel. However, there is little information on the effectiveness of zaï cropping to improve soil quality, particularly as to how it relates to manure sources. Therefore, our objective was to determine the effect of manure type on plant nutrient availability and soil microbial activity in relation to crop productivity. The experiment had a randomized block design with the following treatments with all manure amendments applied at 6 Mg ha⁻¹: 1) sheep (Ovis aries), 2) goats (Capra hircus), and 3) cattle (Bos indicus) manures; 4) an equal mix of all three manures; and 5) a control with no manure amendment - after which sorghum (Sorghum bicolor [L.] Moench) was planted. Soil samples (0–20 cm) were taken from zaï pits at the sorghum boot stage and analyzed for a suite of plant-available nutrients, microbial composition, and enzyme activities. The results showed that the zaï system with manure amendments significantly increased soil pH, plant-available nitrogen by three-fold, and phosphorus by two-fold over the control. Goat or mixed manure amended soils had significantly higher enzyme activities than sheep or cattle manure. Manure type also shifted the EL-FAME biomarkers for bacteria, fungi, and protozoa indicating a more favorable copiotrophic environment in manure amended soils. zaï cropping systems amended with the higher quality or the mixed manure had greater microbial responses, nutrient availability, and crop productivity than the lower quality manure.

中文翻译：

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牲畜粪便对萨赫勒地区扎伊种植系统土壤微生物和养分动态的影响

该哉，涉及小挖出的土窖精密粪便放置裁剪系统旨在恢复萨赫勒缀满和退化土壤的生产力。然而，关于再耕种改善土壤质量的有效性的信息很少，特别是关于它与粪便来源的关系。因此，我们的目标是确定肥料类型对与作物生产力相关的植物养分有效性和土壤微生物活性的影响。该实验采用随机区组设计，采用以下处理，所有粪便改良剂均以 6 Mg ha ^-1施用：1) 绵羊 ( Ovis aries )，2) 山羊 ( Capra hircus )，和 3) 牛 ( Bos indicus)) 粪肥；4) 三种肥料的等量混合；和 5) 没有肥料添加物的对照——之后种植高粱 ( Sorghum bicolor [L.] Moench)。土壤样品（0-20 厘米）取自高粱启动阶段的zaï坑，并分析了一系列植物可利用的养分、微生物组成和酶活性。结果表明，扎伊使用粪便改良剂的系统与对照相比，土壤 pH 值、植物有效氮增加了三倍，磷增加了两倍。山羊或混合粪肥改良的土壤比绵羊或牛粪具有显着更高的酶活性。粪肥类型还改变了细菌、真菌和原生动物的 EL-FAME 生物标志物，表明粪肥改良土壤中的营养环境更为有利。用更高质量或混合肥料改良的 zaï种植系统比低质量肥料具有更高的微生物反应、养分可用性和作物生产力。