Fertilizer by crop group: cereals, oilseeds, vegetables and fruit trees

You do not need a different programme for every crop, but you do need one for every crop group.

Cereals: sorghum, millet, maize, wheat

Nitrogen-hungry. Phosphorus at sowing from DAP or NPK, then urea in two or three splits. Sulphur if the soil is poor in it.

Oilseeds and pulses: sesame, groundnut, sunflower, cowpea

They need phosphorus and sulphur more than nitrogen. TSP or moderate DAP at planting, bentonite sulphur 90 before sowing, and little extra nitrogen.

Vegetables: tomato, onion, okra, pepper

Fast growers that want balanced, frequent feeding. Balanced NPK early, urea and potassium through the season, ideally by drip fertigation, with compost.

Fruit trees and date palm

Steady nitrogen and potassium, organic matter in the basin each season, and sulphur on alkaline soils. Feed around the drip line, not at the trunk.

Whatever the crop

• Test the soil first.
• Split nitrogen.
• Place phosphorus near the roots.
• Add organic matter.

Ask us to write a programme for your crop and field.