Dr. Sarr Papa Saliou, Senior Researcher of the Crop, Livestock and Environment Division, and his colleagues were awarded the Best Presentation Award for Applied Research for their outstanding research results presented at the SAT Technology Showcase 2024 hosted by the Science Academy of Tsukuba (SAT) on January 25, 2024.

Since 2001, SAT has organized the annual "Technology Showcase" as a platform for interdisciplinary exchange of ideas and technologies among researchers and engineers from Tsukuba City and the Tokyo metropolitan area. This year's event, held at the Tsukuba International Congress Center, featured 93 research presentations from students and public research institutions, including poster displays, one-minute indexing presentations, and a special symposium.

Dr. Sarr presented the research entitled "Phosphate rock-enriched compost with rhizosphere soil increases sorghum yield equivalently to chemical fertilizers" as the principal investigator. This research was conducted in collaboration with Project Leader NAKAMURA Satoshi, Dr. IWASAKI Shinya, and researchers from the National Institute of Environment and Agricultural Research (INERA), Burkina Faso, under the JICA-JST and SATREPS project "Establishment of the model for fertilizing cultivation promotion using Burkina Faso phosphate rock".

In recognition of the groundbreaking application of the research to industrial technology, the participants voted to award Dr. Sarr and his colleagues the "Best Presentation Award for Applied Research". This award highlights the advanced nature of their work in addressing the challenges associated with the rising cost of chemical fertilizers.

The phosphate rock-enriched compost developed by Dr. Sarr and his team provides a sustainable alternative to chemical fertilizers, which have become increasingly scarce due to recent price increases, by incorporating phosphate rock and rhizosphere soil into sorghum residue. This innovative approach not only improves the biological properties of soils, but also achieves sorghum yields comparable to chemical fertilizers. Importantly, the materials used are locally available, making it a promising new organic fertilizer for improving soil fertility in sub-Saharan Africa.

October 20, 2022 Press Release

Development of Organic Fertilizer Production Technology Using Low-Grade Phosphate Rock