The Profitability of Fertilizer Micro Dosing and Timing of Weeding in Finger Millet Production in the Semi-Arid Areas of Uganda (original) (raw)
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Journal of Agricultural Science
Finger-millet response to micro-dosing with N and P fertilizer in the Semi-Arid areas of eastern Uganda is not fully known. Consequently, we conducted a field study at Kuju in eastern Uganda in 2016 long and short rains. The study determined the effect of fertilizer micro-dosing and weeding time on finger-millet performance. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with a split plot treatment structure. Weeding time constituted the main plot (weeding at 20, 30, 45 DAS (days after sowing) and 20 + 45 DAS while fertilizer rates (16.6 kg N ha-1 + 10.6 kg P2O5 ha-1; 10.6 kg P2O5 ha-1; 16.6 kg N ha-1; 0 N + 0 N and 83 kg N ha-1 + 52 kg P2O5 ha-1) constituted the sub-plots. Results of this study revealed that finger-millet grain yield was highest (2182 kg ha-1) at fertilizer micro-dosing (16.6 kg N ha-1 + 10.6 kg P2O5 ha-1) and lowest (950 kg ha-1) in plots with no fertilizer. Fertilizer micro-dose application (16.6 kg N ha-1 + 10.6 kg P2O5 ha-1) caused early flow...
Journal of Agricultural Science
Finger millet yields in farmers’ fields are low primarily due to low soil fertility and poor weed management. Fertilizer application could be one of the key strategies used to address the problem. However, due to high cost of fertilizer, its utilization has been limited to very few farmers in the country. Consequently, a study was conducted in Kuju sub-county, Amuria district in Eastern Uganda during 2016 long and short rains to determine the effect of micro dosing and weeding time on finger millet performance and weed growth. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design in a split plot treatment structure. Weeding times constituted the main plot [weeding at 20 DAS (days after sowing), 30 DAS, 45 DAS, and 20 & 45 DAS (double weeding)], while fertilizer rates (N 16.6 kg ha-1 + P2O5 10.6 kg ha-1; P2O5 10.6 kg ha-1; N 16.6 kg ha-1; N0 + P0, and N 83 kg ha-1 + P2O5 52 kg ha-1) constituted the sub plots. Results of this study revealed that the interaction between wee...
Discover Sustainability
Climate change is affecting crop production in the West Africa Sahel. Farmers develop many adaptation strategies However, few of them have been tested to find their climate smartness, primarily their agronomic and economic benefits. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the field experiment in two successive years, 2020 and 2021, in rainy conditions, the combined effect of millet/cowpea intercropping and fertilizer microdosing on the yield and their economic advantages. Two genotypes of cowpea (ISV128 and Tiligré) and a variety of millet, Heini Kirey Précoce (HKP), were intercropped. At the treatment level, there is a net benefit of the crop association compared to the pure cultivation of each of the millet and cowpea species with total LERs, an average of 1.48 in 2020, and 1.43 in 2021 for microdose treatment and 1.55 in 2020 and 1.13 in 2021 for the control. However, there is no significant difference in cowpea genotype on LER and millet yields in the 2 years (P = 0.65 in 2020 a...
Journal of Agricultural Science, 2016
Pearl millet is an important crop for people living in semi-arid areas in Uganda but not much is known about its production environment. A survey was conducted in eastern and northern regions of Uganda to characterise the pearl millet cropping system and to identify the most important production determinants. Using questionnaires, data was collected from 160 households through face-to-face interviews with the respondents. Results showed that pearl millet was mainly grown for food and source of income. The production environment was low input as farmers planted unimproved genotypes, used no artificial chemicals or manure, and had minimal access to financial credit and agricultural trainings or extension services. Planting was done in the second rains with no optimal use of important resources like family labour and seed due to seed broadcasting. Farmers desired genotypes with traits such as; stay green, being tall, high tillering, high yield, early maturity and being ergot resistant. The most important constraints were ergot and rust diseases susceptibility, low yield, low tillering, late maturity, sterile panicles, rodents, moulds/rotting and insect pests; while lack of market, low prices and price fluctuation were the important market constraints. Results further showed that farmers lacked knowledge about the common diseases like rust and ergot. The area planted, spouse age and years of pearl millet cultivation were the important factors enhancing production while age of household head, amount of seed planted and distance to the market negatively affected grain yield.
Experimental Agriculture, 1989
SUMMARYResults of farm-level experiments with pearl millet are reported from four villages in semi-arid Niger in 1982 and 1983. Crop establishment, yield loss factors (insects, diseases, striga) and economics of new practices were studied in a randomized design which included density, fertility, cultivar, and intercropping with cowpea as treatments. Improved cultivars did not establish significantly better than local ones, but fertilizer occasionally improved establishment. Incidence of yield loss factors was low, and only small effects of cultivar and fertilizer were seen. Fertilizer increased grain yields of the local cultivar by as much as 153%. The use of fertilizer and improved cultivars increased grain yields by as much as 171% over an unfertilized local millet. Even without government subsidies, fertilizer use was profitable for 56% of farmers on all cultivars. In general, fertilizers and improved cultivars had a small positive impact on profitability, with little adverse imp...
2018
Despite a high productive potential for many best bet agricultural technologies, there is a low rate of adoption from farmers. Recommendations of improved technologies such as fertilizer use based on agronomic data without economic analysis contributes to this low adoption rate. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the profitability of selected fertilizer types and rates in maize production in a sub-humid farming system. A field experiment was conducted to investigate costs and revenue of fertilizer types and rates applied on maize farms using a split-plot layout under randomized Original Research Article
Journal of development and agricultural economics, 2020
This paper analyses the effect of labor opportunity cost on economic profitability of fertilizer microdosing (FM) in Burkina Faso. In order to assess the incremental change in net income when the investment cost increases and takes into account labor opportunity cost, the marginal value cost ratio (MVCR) approach is used. Using data from farmer's field, the results showed that for both crops, the median yield of the fertilizer microdosing plots is 500 kg.ha-1 , which is slightly higher than yield from recommended dose plots. Moreover, the rate of fertilizer microdosing plots of millet with a marginal value cost ratio above 2 shifts from 50% (without labor opportunity cost) to 41% (with labor opportunity cost) and not even one recommended dose plots reached this threshold. These findings argued that fertilizer microdosing adopters remain economically profitable for farmers compared to traditional practices despite the opportunity cost of labor. However, because of its importance in the process of fertilizer microdosing adoption, labor costs must be included in its economic evaluation. The results of this study confirm the need to accelerate mechanization of fertilizer microdosing application.
International Journal of Agricultural Economics
The majority of smallholder maize farmers in the study area depend on farming whose returns are very low. This, together with low soil fertility and the inability of farmers to purchase chemical fertilizers, has resulted in the undertaking of research on non-conventional fertilizers, mainly organic fertilizers, by researchers in research institutions, universities, and NGOs. Researchers have registered high yield responses to the use of non-conventional fertilizers in demonstration farms and extension agents have been tasked with promoting the use of the fertilizers. Studies have shown that emphasis was put on informing farmers of the ability of the fertilizers to improve yields. Despite the high yields in research settings, smallholder farmers have continued to witness low crop yields. This begs the question, why was this the case? The purpose of this study was to analyze the promoted non-conventional fertilizers with the aim of determining whether there were significant profitability differences between their use and the use of inorganic fertilizers among smallholder farmers. The objective of this study was to carry out a comparative profitability analysis of the commonly used fertilizers, namely: inorganic fertilizers, farmyard, compost, agroforestry, and Thithonia difersifolia promoted in the study area. Stratified random sampling was used to select 150 respondents from Vihiga County, Kenya. Farmers were stratified into five strata based on the type of fertilizer that the farmers used, and at least 30 farmers were selected from each strata. Primary data was collected using questionnaires and the data collected was analyzed using net present value and gross margins. The results of the evaluation of the technologies on food production indicated that there were significant profitability differences at a 5% level between the use of nonconventional fertilizers and that of inorganic fertilizers. The study recommended that farmers be educated on the economics of the use of non-conventional fertilizers in order to enable them to select the most economically efficient technology. An economic analysis should also be done to determine the profitability of the use of non-conventional fertilizers on high-value crops such as vegetables and fruits. Maize/bean intercrop formed the basis of profitability analyses in this study because most farmers used them on the maize/ bean intercrop. Net present value profitability analysis should also be done on the use of organic materials on perennial crops such as fruits.
Fertilizer Research, 1992
A large number of zero, half and full rate fertilizer trials were conducted on-farm in Southern Senegal with rainfed lowland rice (n = 24), maize (n = 48), and groundnuts (n = 18). Trial sites were located according to farmer selected criteria: soil texture in the case of rice; compound garden versus outer field in the case of maize; and, previous cropping history in the case of groundnuts. Quadratic fertilizer response curves using all the cases explained only 16-29% of the variance. Subsequent stratification of the fields by soil organic matter, texture, and pH permitted the identification of fertilizer responsive and non-responsive fields. Response curves using only the tests conducted on soils without a limiting constraint explained 36 to 47% of the variance. At half rate fertilization levels VCR's of 3.8 (maize), 5.8 (rice) and 6.9 (groundnuts) resulted. Within productive fields, level of weed control, percent barrenness and final stand at harvest explained much of the remaining variation in yields for rice (82%), maize (61%) and groundnuts (76%) respectively. Response curves were then used in an economic analysis to address on-farm fertilizer allocation issues. Based on survey results and field trial data, partial budgets for small and medium-sized farms were developed. This analysis showed marginal rates of return of 400 and 165 percent to half and full rate fertilization, respectively. This type of fertilizer validation program, conducted on farmer-selected sites, improved targeting of recommendations, and helped to identify agronomic practices that should result in reduced economic risk and increased fertilizer adoption by farmers.
Field Crops Research, 2019
Whereas the decision to promote a given agricultural intensification technology has hitherto been largely based on its average agronomic or economic performance, it is increasingly being recognized that the variability in the performance must also be taken into account in order to develop more meaningful and flexible recommendations. This is true in particular for microdose fertilization which is being actively promoted in sub-Saharan Africa as a means to increase crop productivity, profitability and fertilizer use efficiency. To this end, a total of 51 onfarm maize trials were carried out in northern Benin in 2014 and 2015. The performance of two microdose fertilization options (MD1 = 23.8 kg N, 4.1 kg P, and 7.8 kg K ha −1 ; MD2 = 33.1 kg N, 8.2 kg P, and 15.6 kg K ha −1) applied alone or combined with hill-placed manure (FYM) at 3 t ha −1 was compared to an unfertilized control and a broadcast fertilizer treatment at the recommended rate (RR; 76 kg N, 13.1 kg P, and 24.9 kg K ha −1). On average, microdose fertilization alone increased maize grain yields by 1145 kg ha −1 (+105%), compared to the unfertilized control (1096 kg ha −1). There was no significant difference in yields between MD1, MD2 and RR in both years. Combining microdose fertilization with manure further increased yields by 848 kg ha −1 (+40%) on average. There was a large variability in yields among farmers, from 420 to 1687 kg ha −1 , 1419 to 3418 kg ha −1 and 1834 to 4475 kg ha −1 for the control, sole microdose (MD1 and MD2) and microdose + FYM treatments, respectively. Variability tended to be lowest in the control treatment. Absolute yield response to microdose fertilization tended to decrease with increasing yields in the control plots and was well explained by the combination of some measured soil parameters (clay and/or silt, total carbon, exch-Mg, pH) and weed pressure. Based on the value-cost ratio (VCR), the economic performance of the RR treatment was less than that of the microdose treatments (alone or combined with manure) despite the higher labor cost associated with the latter treatments. MD1 should be favored over MD2 because yields were not significantly different yet the risk of achieving low VCRs was lower in MD1. Despite the greater variability compared to the control, the risk of no return on investment was nearly nil for MD1 (6%) and MD1 + FYM (2%) as a result of the strong increase in yield. Despite the overall good performance of fertilizer microdosing, more effort is needed to better understand crop response to microdose fertilization for a broader range of environmental conditions in Benin in order to fine tune recommendation domains.