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The Sahel as semi-arid area is characterised by harsh cropping conditions. The vegetation period is short (3-4 months), the start of the rainy season hardly predictable and characterised by strong convective storms causing wind and water erosion. Intra-seasonal droughts occur. The soils are predominantly sandy (Arenosols) with inherent low chemical soil fertility, phosphorus and nitrogen being the main limiting nutrients for cereals. The major staple crop under these conditions is pearl millet.
Hardly any mechanisation is used for cropping. Sowing is practiced with wide spacing and seed pockets. Crop losses occur due to seed loss by predators in the case of dry sowing (that is sowing before the first rains as practiced with remote fields), and seedling loss due to wind erosion or early drought.
This is where seedballs come in as a technology that can reduce the necessary amount of seeds, providing a mechanical protection against predators and nutrients as additives.
The aim is to develop in co-operation with farmers a reliable technology that can reduce the cropping risk and increase yield by using the given local resources.
