Fertilizer Adoption and Use Intensity Among Smallholder Farmers in Northern Ghana: A Case Study of the AGRA Soil Health Project

Martey, Edward; Wiredu, Alexander Nimo; Etwire, Prince Maxwell; Fosu, Mathias; Buah, S. S. J.; Bidzakin, John K.; Ahiabor, B. D. K.; Kusi, Francis

doi:10.5539/sar.v3n1p24

Cited by 68 publications

(75 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…This effect is mainly attributed to the probability of adoption by non-user households that increase by about 0.003, against an improvement of 0.002 associated with the increased use by households that were already using chemical fertilizers. These results are contrary to what Martey et al (2014) found on smallholder farmers in Northern Ghana.…”

Section: Decomposition Of the Marginal Effects Of Factors On The Use contrasting

confidence: 99%

“…This effect is greater on the probability of the adoption of non-user producers which decreases by 0.007 when distance to an earth-built road increase by one kilometer, compared to chemical fertilizers users which decreases by 0.004 when distance to an earth-built road increase by one kilometer. These results are consistent with those reported by Zhou et al (2010) in Northern China, but contrary to findings by Martey et al (2014) for smallholder farmers in Northern Ghana.…”

Section: Decomposition Of the Marginal Effects Of Factors On The Use supporting

confidence: 91%

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Decisions for adopting and intensifying the use of chemical fertilizers in cereal production in Burkina Faso

Combary¹

2016

Afr. J. Agric. Res.

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Section: Decomposition Of the Marginal Effects Of Factors On The Use contrasting

confidence: 99%

Section: Decomposition Of the Marginal Effects Of Factors On The Use supporting

confidence: 91%

Decisions for adopting and intensifying the use of chemical fertilizers in cereal production in Burkina Faso

Combary¹

2016

Afr. J. Agric. Res.

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“…The Northern part is dominated by Guinea Savannah with average annual rainfall of 1000-1100 mm from one rainy season spanning May to September, while in the southern part, moist semi-deciduous agro ecology dominates, with an average annual rainfall of 1500 mm, falling within two rainfall seasons (Owusu and Waylen, 2009;Owusu and Waylen, 2013). Most of the cereal crops (primarily Sorghum, Millet and Maize) are produced in the northern part of Ghana 25 (Martey et al, 2014). Table 1 shows the six agro ecological zones with the average annual rainfall and major crops grown in the agro-ecological zones.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

TAMSAT-ALERT v1: A new framework for agricultural decision support

Asfaw¹,

Black²,

Brown³

et al. 2018

Preprint

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Abstract. Early warning of weather related hazards enables farmers, policy makers and aid agencies to mitigate their exposure to risk. We present a new operational framework, Tropical Applications of Meteorology using SATellite data and ground based measurements-AgricuLtural EaRly warning sysTem (TAMSAT-ALERT), which facilitates monitoring of meteorological risk to agriculture. TAMSAT-ALERT combines information on land surface properties, seasonal forecasts and historical weather into quantitative assessments of the likelihood of adverse weather-related outcomes, such as low yield. This 15 article describes the TAMSAT-ALERT framework and demonstrates its application to risk assessment for low maize yield in Northern Ghana. The modular design of TAMSAT-ALERT enables it to accommodate any impact/land surface model driven with meteorological data, and hence to enhance rather than displace existing operational systems. The implementation described here uses the well-established General Large Area Model for annual crops (GLAM) to provide probabilistic assessments of the meteorological hazard to maize yield in northern Ghana throughout the growing season. The results show 20 that climatic risk to yield is poorly constrained at the beginning of the season, but as the season progresses, the uncertainty rapidly reduces. The TAMSAT-ALERT methodology implicitly weights forecast and observational inputs according to their relevance to the metric being assessed. TAMSAT-ALERT can thus be used as a test-bed for the value of probabilistic seasonal forecast information. Here, we show that in northern Ghana, the regional tercile seasonal forecasts of cumulative rainfall and mean temperature, which are routinely issued to farmers, are of limited value for decision making. 25 IntroductionMany African people depend on rain-fed agriculture, and are thus vulnerable to drought, and other weather-related hazards.Anticipation of hazard enables farmers and aid agencies to plan ahead, averting disaster (Boyd et al., 2013). Here, we present a new framework for early warning of high meteorological risk to agriculture, the Tropical Applications of Meteorology using SATellite data and ground based measurements-AgricuLtural EaRly warning sysTem (TAMSAT-ALERT). TAMSAT-30 ALERT integrates assessment of climatological weather-related risk, with forecasts and real-time monitoring of environmental conditions. The framework is intended to be a decision support system, which when combined with socio-economic assessments, can be used by governmental agencies and NGOs to help farmers manage agricultural risk.The need for timely information on agricultural risk has motivated the development of a number of drought early warning systems and decision support platforms. The Rainwatch-AfClix early warning system (RWX), for example, provides time 35 series of cumulative rainfall, which are compared against historical time years. Users value the facility to compare the current season against past years, finding that it enables them to intuitively gauge risk (Ta...

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“…Farming with very little or without NPK fertilizer application is a common practice of small scale rural farmers in northern Ghana. Fertilizer nutrient application in Ghana is approximately 8 kg per ha while depletion rates, which are among the highest in Africa, range from about 40 to 60 kg of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) per hectare per year (Martey et al, 2014). This implies that, essential nutrients needed to support vegetative growth and consequently dry matter and grain yield are not present regardless of the soil type resulting in continued decline in yield.…”

Section: Maize Shoot Dry Biomass As Affected By Genotype and Fertilizmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fertilizer and Genotype Effects on Maize Production on Two Soils in the Northern Region of Ghana

Tahiru¹,

Fosu²,

Gaiser³

et al. 2015

SAR

Self Cite

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Soils in the Guinea Savanna agro-ecological zone of Ghana are depleted in major nutrients by continuous cropping and residue removal, resulting in low maize yields. While many studies have assessed the fertilizer requirements for maize, most did not account for the role of the soil type and maize genotype. A study was conducted on Plinthosol and Lixisol in the Tolon district of the Northern Region of Ghana to assess fertilizer and genotype effects on maize productivity. Two maize genotypes (i.e. Obatanpa -110 days to maturity) and (Dodzie -75 days to maturity) were compared at three fertilizer application rates (i.e. 0-0-0, 60-15-35 and 90-25-50 kg ha -1 N, P K) in a randomized complete block design using four replications, with genotype allocated to the main plots and fertilizer levels to the subplots. Soils were characterized, revealing very low total N and available P concentrations in the top layers. Grain yield was significantly affected by maize genotype, irrespective of the soil type. The longer-duration (Obatanpa) tended to out yield the short duration genotype (Dodzie), and generally outperformed Dodzie in all yield parameters except for the harvest index on Plinthosol. Inorganic fertilizers significantly (P<0.001) increased yield and all yield parameters over the control on both soils, with yield increases of 84 and 90% at 60-15-35 and 90-25-50 kg ha -1 N, P K, respectively. Genotype by fertilizer interaction was highly significant (P<0.001) for grain yield on both soils. We conclude that farmers in the Guinea Savannah agro-ecological zone of Ghana need to supply nutrients to enhance grain yields of maize, irrespective of the prevailing soil type.

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Fertilizer Adoption and Use Intensity Among Smallholder Farmers in Northern Ghana: A Case Study of the AGRA Soil Health Project

Cited by 68 publications

References 24 publications

Decisions for adopting and intensifying the use of chemical fertilizers in cereal production in Burkina Faso

Decisions for adopting and intensifying the use of chemical fertilizers in cereal production in Burkina Faso

TAMSAT-ALERT v1: A new framework for agricultural decision support

Fertilizer and Genotype Effects on Maize Production on Two Soils in the Northern Region of Ghana

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