Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development in the Tropics and Subtropics (JARTS)
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Understanding beef cattle production practices and associated factors constraining performance: A survey of smallholder farmers in South Africa
Get PDFFarm practices of beef cattle smallholders in South Africa are characterized by poor management practices with limited advisory services. This study aimed to assess current beef cattle farming practices and limiting factors for improved beef production in South African smallholder farmers. A questionnaire was administered to 460 individual smallholder farmers purposively selected from seven provinces of South Africa (SA). The questionnaire captured information on demographics and farm profiles, constraints on production, marketing, ecological and reproduction management. Frequency procedure and logistic regression were used for data analysis. The majority of farmers were males (77%), fully committed to cattle farming (92%) and participated in informal markets (61%). Farmers constraints included extreme weather events, disease outbreaks, lack of access to information on farm management, supply of cattle nutrition and fair market pricing. The majority (93%) of farmers had no knowledge on body condition scoring (BCS) prior breeding and recorded inter-calving periods of two years (77%). Only 17% of farmers kept calving records and 80% practices culling of old cows. The regression model revealed that lack of information and understanding of farm business, and information communicated by government were among the dominating factors associated with the constraints. The study confirmed the need to enhance the approach of farm information dissemination and skills transfer to mitigate farming challenges and improve productivity. Policy makers may ensure adoption of farm information chains through more implementations of open platforms such as farmer's schools and farmers days
Profitability analysis of smallholder aquaculture farms: the case of Lagos State, Nigeria
Get PDFNigeria is the largest (total) fish consumer in Africa and among the highest consumers in the world. The domestic fish production is short of the consumption demand despite the vast potentials in the fishery sector. Harnessing these potentials rightly will help to increase employment and increase food fish production and availability. It is clear given the importance of aquaculture in fish production that efforts must be made to encourage entrepreneurs to go into the business. Many have cast doubts on the profitability of aquaculture production, particularly on a smallholder level. This paper determines the profitability of smallholder aquaculture farmers in Lagos State, Nigeria, with a specific focus on catfish farmers. Eighty catfish farmers were interviewed using random sampling among farmers in fish farm estate in Ikorodu, Lagos. The study used enterprise budgeting, investment and sensitivity analysis to determine the profitability of catfish production in the study area. The study showed that current farmers are having positive cash flow. However, the investment analysis showed that investment in catfish production is not profitable. The enterprise became profitable due to the expansion of the farm enterprise by constructing at least five additional ponds
Farmers’ attitudes and perceptions of adoption of agricultural innovations in Kenya: a mixed methods analysis
Get PDFAttitudes and perceptions are key constructs in decision making. Their nature and influence on agricultural technology adoption among smallholder farmers in Kenya has not been adequately researched. The research applied a mixed methods approach to assess the influence of attitudes and perceptions in adoption of agricultural innovations by smallholder farmers in Kenya. The quantitative phase used a survey (n=245) while the qualitative consisted of focus groups (n=28) to elicit subjective farmer views of innovations. A principal component analysis (PCA) technique reduced 14-attitudes statements to five conceptual clusters: challenges in accessing agricultural innovations (explained 19.09% of the total variance); effectiveness of agricultural technologies (11.88%); enjoyment of agricultural technologies (10.02%); social influence in use of technology (9.47%); and experience with agricultural technologies (8.13%). Qualitative analysis identified key themes: farmer ambivalence about innovations; economic benefits of innovation use; ease of use of technology encouraged adoption; lack of trust; and limited knowledge of innovations. Farmers' positive evaluation of technology did not encourage widespread adoption of innovations. Farmers were found to be poorly equipped to use innovations due to limited access to agricultural information and training supporting the use of innovations. The absence of trust between the farmers and extension agents aggravated the situation
Identification of socio-economic characteristics and farmers’ practices affecting rice (Oryza spp.) yields in Benin (West Africa)
Get PDFRice (Oryza spp.) is one of the major staple foods in Benin. Benin has increased rice production through the expansion of cultivation area rather than increasing rice yields. To better understand the factors affecting rice yields, a thorough understanding of the current rice production system characteristics and constraints is required. The present study identifies socio-economic characteristics and farmers’ practices affecting rice yields and suggests improved cultivation practices in the sector. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, including socio-economic characteristics and rice cultivation practices from 230 randomly selected rice producers in North and Central Benin. Descriptive statistics and cluster analysis were used to group rice producers into different groups. Findings revealed that the proportion of rice producers having access to credit was low (33.5 %). Out of seventeen variables, only three (lowland rice cultivation, irrigated rice cultivation and total land cultivated area) discriminated best the rice producers in three (03) clusters with distinct characteristics in terms of socio-economics factors and cropping practices affecting rice yields. Most respondents (more than 70 %) did not practice crop rotation or fallow. This, together with low levels of chemical fertiliser applications and type of rice cultivation, explains poor rice production in particular in clusters 1 and 2. Yield enhancement is possible through the combination of lowland and irrigated cultivation performed by farmers in cluster 3 with the highest mean rice yield (3.8 t.ha-1). We suggest tackling the specific characteristics and needs of rice producers would more adequately help to improve rice yields. Interventions to enhance rice yields include training on best rice production practices, provision of input subsidies and access to irrigation tailored to the specific constraints and needs of each rice grower type. Finally, enabling access to credit will improve productivity of rice farmers in Benin
Malaria and pneumonia effects on rice, vanilla production and rural household income in Madagascar: case of the Sava region
Get PDFIn Madagascar, malaria remains the leading cause of consultation and deaths at hospital at all ages and pneumonia is one of the main causes of the under-five mortality and account for 45% of children hospitalizations. The number of these cases and deaths has not decreased during the last ten years. This paper aims to determine the effects of malaria and pneumonia cases on rice and vanilla production and income. We used data from a cross-sectional survey conducted in 2016 by the authors on 975 rural households and 3,586 individuals of the SAVA region in the northeast of Madagascar. After checking the presence of endogeneity, ordinary least-square method was used instead of two-stage least squares. Our results showed that malaria has no effect on production, and therefore does not affect income. Pneumonia had an effect on production of rice and vanilla. Moreover, the cost of malaria and pneumonia healthcare burdened by households affect their consumption by reducing expenditure on housing. There are many campaigns for the fight against malaria in Madagascar, but pneumonia prevention measures are very rare. Therefore, pneumonia should be considered in the same way as malaria due to its effects on production and investment to fight against these two diseases must be strengthened in order to decrease the costs for the households
First report and population dynamics of the Tobacco Thrips, Thrips parvispinus (Karny) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) on ridged gourd, Luffa acutangula (L.) Roxy in selected export fields in southern Ghana
Get PDFThrips attack several crops causing considerable economic damage. To prevent this damage, sticky traps can be used to monitor their population for the timely execution of management interventions. Ridged gourd or turia (Luffa acutangula (L.) Roxy) is an important Asian vegetable exported regularly to the European Union market from Ghana. However, this vegetable has been intercepted severally at the point of entry because of thrips infestation. The current study is aimed at identifying and monitoring thrips population on turia using blue and yellow sticky traps in six export vegetable production sites in Ghana for two consecutive seasons and three trapping periods. The results showed that Thrips parvispinus (Karny) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) was the commonest and only species of thrips found attacking turia. The highest and lowest mean number of thrips were recorded from the blue and yellow sticky traps during the dry and the late part of the major rainy seasons, respectively. Thrips population build-up was observed to reach its peak at the flowering stage of the crop. This is the first report of T. parvispinus in Ghana. The implications of this finding on the export of turia to the EU market has been discussed
Use of corncob biochar and urea for pakchoi (Brassica rapa l.) cultivation: Short-term impact of pyrolysis temperature and fertiliser dose on plant growth and yield
Get PDFThis study aimed to evaluate the effect of pyrolysis temperature of corncob biochar as a soil amendment and urea fertiliser on the growth and yield of pakchoi. Pakchoi was cultivated in pots (13 cm height, 19 cm upper diameter, and 13.5 cm bottom diameter). Two factors including pyrolysis temperature of biochar and urea dose were combined with four levels each. Pyrolysis temperature factor consisted of B0 (no biochar), B1 (250 °C), B2 (300 °C), and B3 (350 °C). Urea dose consisted of F0 (no urea), F1 (0.6 g pot–1), F2 (1.2 g pot–1), and F3 (1.8 g pot–1). All treatment combinations were randomly designed in triplicates. The amount of biochar was 90 g with total growing media of 3000 g. The results showed that pyrolysis temperature influenced significantly (a = 0.05) growth parameters, fresh yield, and water productivity. Pyrolysis temperature of 350 °C resulted in the highest growth and production with average yield of 30.6 g pot–1, water productivity of 10.09 g cm–3, and fertiliser productivity of 27.59-53.39 g g–1 depending on the dose. In order to have optimal benefits, biochar application should be combined with fertiliser application
Determinants of Willingness to Pay (WTP) for organic fertiliser: a case of smallholder potato farmers in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Get PDFThe South African smallholder sector is characterised by relatively low productivity due to persistent deterioration in soil fertility owing to declining organic matter and other essential soil nutrients. Consequently, adoption of sustainable agricultural inputs like organic fertiliser is essential. Although there is sufficient advocacy in the adoption of organic fertiliser, the economic linkage between farmers' socioeconomic factors and willingness to pay (WTP) remains under-explored. This study investigated the determinants of WTP a price premium for organic fertiliser among smallholder potato farmers using primary data collected from 189 smallholder farmers in three municipal areas in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, through a multi-stage sampling technique. The data was analysed using the ordered logit model and revealed that marital status, access to extension services, and knowledge of organic fertiliser usage, land ownership, livestock size and distance to the source of organic fertiliser influenced the farmers’ WTP for organic fertiliser. The study found that about 83.6% of the sampled smallholder farmers were willing to pay for organic fertiliser, while about 16.4% of them indicated that they were not willing to pay for organic fertiliser. This result justifies the prospect of commercialisation of organic fertiliser to facilitate the availability of organic fertiliser to those that are willing to pay for it. This study recommends improved access to extension services to enhance technical information dissemination and knowledge of organic fertiliser usage among smallholder farmers. Development of policies that strive to institute security of land tenure among smallholder farmers, which will encourage smallholder farmers WTP is also essential
Mixed method survey of vegetable farming and rural farmers’ livelihood in Enugu State, Nigeria
Get PDFStudies on the role of agriculture on the improvement of livelihood of farmers have primarily focused on staple crops. Increased awareness on the importance of vegetables in urban and rural areas in Nigeria has led to a rise in demand of vegetables. In both rural and urban communities, smallholder farmers are responding to this demand by increasing vegetable production and thereby creating economic opportunity for themselves. The purpose of this paper is to assess the role of vegetable farming on rural farmers’ livelihood and the support systems available for rural vegetable farmers in Enugu state, Nigeria. This study adopted a mixed-methods design. Quantitative data collection involved the use of questionnaires (n=1118) and qualitative data collection methods comprised in-depth interviews and focus group discussions (n=33). The study revealed that even with limited institutional support, vegetable farming has led to an improvement of rural farmers’ livelihood. The findings indicated that through vegetable farming, rural farmers increased on-farm income and were able to establish other businesses. Also, vegetable farming increased food security of farmers’ households. The study also revealed that community based organisations (CBOs) are the major source of credit for the rural farmers and there is preponderance of farmer to farmer transfer of seeds, technology and information. Therefore, agricultural interventions should also be targeted towards strengthening the vegetable sector
Factors for the success of agricultural cooperatives in Brazil
Get PDFThe Brazilian cooperative agribusiness is in a transitional phase. This moment is marked by the advancement of market globalisation, which has exerted great competitive pressure on national agribusiness. To survive and thrive in a globalised and fiercely competitive environment, cooperatives must face new challenges in the pursuit of competitiveness. This study aimed to identify and describe the main success or failure factors affecting agricultural cooperatives. To this end, bibliographic research was used as a research method, and 108 relevant works from the national and international literature were selected for analysis. The results pointed to the existence of 10 main success factors for agro-industrial cooperatives: conciliation of the dual agenda: social and economic goals; professionalisation of management; meeting the interests of multiple stakeholders; transaction cost management; risk and volatility management; improved commercialisation; competitiveness against traditional companies; technology adoption; sustainable development; and social responsibility. However, there is a gap regarding the existence of studies analysing, in an integrated manner, the prevalence and benefits of the success factors identified for agricultural cooperatives, especially those based in Brazil