Mr Dambe - PhD student from Mali

Meet Souleymane Dambe, a PhD student in soil chemistry from the ISP supported group in chemistry at University of Science, Techniques and Technology of Bamako (USTTB) in Mali. 

Souleymane Dambe is, since 2013, a sandwich PhD student in soil chemistry, spending part of his research training at the home university in Mali and part at the Royal University of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, Sweden. This is his third visit to Sweden and KTH, where he will be staying for 45 days to analyze soil samples, and to finalize papers for publication.

Souleymane is researching the amount of phosphorus available in the paddy soil in Mali, especially in the region of Office du Niger, a large area of rice production in the country. He points to that it is necessary to check the amount of these elements of the soil to be able to have a sustainable agricultural production. Currently farmers use vast amounts of expensive and toxic fertilizers, something that can be prevented through increased knowledge of the soil components.

- If you know the content of the soil, you will know the optimal time for growing crops, which can reduce the amount of fertilizer being used.

The ultimate aim of his research is to make a contribution to the farmers in Mali, through establishing a database of the soil phosphorus levels in the country.

- The soil is different in different regions in Mali. So in the future I hope to be able to give farmers specific recommendations of how much fertilizer to be used, depending on the type of soil.  With these recommendations the farmers will be able to plan the production over the year. You can program the field production, which is necessary and very interesting.

September 2015