Dr Ewusi-Mensah, Nana
Country (Nationality)
Ghana
Grantee Title
Areas of research interest: Soil health and plant nutrition. Legume adaptation to climate change. Enhancing legume production in agricultural systems by promoting microbial activity in biological nitrogen fixation, mycorrhiza and organic matter decomposition. Rhizobium ecology.
Grantee Description
Home Institution Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana
Host Institution University of Cape Town, South Africa
Summary of research
Global concerns now necessitate the search for soil management practices that can be used to achieve food security and at the same time contribute to global climate change mitigation and adaptation.Biochar is a promising technology which has been reported to positively mitigate global warming and an array of soil processes. However, very little biochar is still utilized in Ghana as soil amendment mainly because of low N quality,
short and long term benefits which are not extensively quantified and poor understanding of mechanisms by which soil health is improved. Thus, a deeper understanding is needed to elucidate mechanisms underlying the use of enhanced N biochar on soil health and its suitability under various soil types and climatic conditions.