For over a decade, CIAT has tested agronomic and soil management practices in Western Kenya. From minimum tillage to integrated soil fertility management, two trials, established in 2003, are the most comprehensive picture of tropical soil health in Kenya.

What these trials allow us to do is show-case changes in soil fertility and health for example the impact of conservation measures like minimum tillage, manure application or green manure cover cropping on soil fertility and crop yields, and what happens if these are absent.

They also enable us to show the impact of cropping systems and rotations, providing farmers with advice about which mix of organic and mineral fertilizers can restore productivity to degraded soils, for example. These are not quick-fixes: they take time to develop, hence the importance of these long-term trials.