Yembila Abdoulaye TOGUYENI University (University of Fada N’Gourma), High Institute for Sustainable Development, Fada N’Gourma, Burkina Faso.

 Maize is an important cereal with the availability of sown areas and the popularization of improved varieties, but its production remains low in Burkina Faso. These low maize yields are explained by the low rainfall and the lack of nutrients in the soil. To compensate for the lack of nutrients for the plant, improving soil fertility with the addition of nutrients in mineral or organic form could allow the efficient increase in soil water and yields. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of poultry manure on soil physicochemical characteristics and maize yields. A Fisher block device was installed in a real environment, on a Fisher block plot divided into four (04) blocks composed of four (04) treatments (T1, T2, T3 and T4) based on poultry manure with or without mineral fertilizer. All poultry droppings treatments affected soil chemistry during the trial. The T4 treatment raised the soil acidity from 6.0 to 6.55, and the carbon content increased by 19% in the soil of the T4 treatment. The nitrogen content increases by 13% in the T4 treatment. Compared to the assimilable P content, the soil content taken from the T1 control treatment, in the T2 and T3 treatments fell by 36%. At the 45th Day after sowing (DAS), the maize plants of the T4 treatment (FV+ 5t/ha/3 years of manure) grew faster with 51.11cm compared to those from the T1 treatment. The T4 and T3 treatments had the highest average numbers of grains per ear with 446 and 435 grains/ear, respectively. The maize straw yield from the T4 treatment increased by 1850 kg/ha and by 700 kg/ha for the grain yield. Poultry manure in combination with mineral fertilizer could contribute to improving soil fertility and ensuring the sustainability of maize cropping systems under Sudano-Sahelian soil and climate conditions.