Fertilizer Adoption by Smallholders in the Brazilian Amazon: Farm-level Evidence

Abstract

Multiple constraints prevent smallholders from adopting fertilizers even with regional supply of agricultural inputs expanding and soils being weared-out. Using comprehensive farm-level data from the eastern Brazilian Amazon, we found that market proximity had a significant positive correlation with fertilizer adoption, even after controlling for liquidity, land tenure, education, experience and access to rural extension services. Nevertheless, few smallholders completely replaced nutrients from vegetation with fertilizers. Instead, we found that a hybrid system that combines nutrients from vegetation and fertilizers was approximately twice as common as exclusive fertilizer use. We suggest that the option for this diversified "nutrient portfolio" may result not only from a lack of capital or knowledge regarding return on fertilizer use, but also from the need to adapt to the economic constraints facing smallholders and minimize risk. Results indicate that a rural extension program aimed at supporting a rapid and complete replacement of ashes from vegetation by fertilizers could prove unsuccessful for Amazonian smallholders

Farmers' preferences for high-input agriculture supported by site-specific extension services: Evidence from a choice experiment in Nigeria

“…The class membership probability is modeled using a multinomial logit specification as a function of farmer-specific characteristics3 known to be relevant for soil fertility-related technology adoption from theory and the empirical literature (Feder et al, 1985; Foster and Rosenzweig, 2010; Chianu and Tsujii, 2005; Lambrecht et al, 2014; Wiredu et al, 2015; Mponela et al, 2016; Morello et al, 2018). The selected variables are age and education level of the farmer, household labor (human capital), membership in a farmer association (social capital), access to off-farm income, access to agricultural credit (financial capital), the value of assets (physical capital), access to extension services and distance to a tarmac road (access to institutions and infrastructure).Prijs∣c=exp()γc′zi∑q=1Cexp()γq′zi0.25em…”

“…The current empirical literature includes ex-post studies that analyze farmers' adoption behavior after technologies have been introduced (e.g. Lambrecht et al, 2014; Mponela et al, 2016; Morello et al, 2018) and a growing number of ex-ante studies that use choice experiments to analyze farmers' adoption behavior in the design stage of a technology (e.g. Lambrecht et al, 2015; Mahadevan and Asafu-Adjaye, 2015; Dalemans et al, 2018; Tarfasa et al, 2018).…”

A new hypothesis for the origin of Amazonian Dark Earths

“…Amazonian landscapes are dominated by highly weathered Oxisols and Ultisols, which are characterised by high acidity and low nutrient concentrations. As in other parts of the tropics, native plant species display adaptations, such as nutrient uptake from litter and tolerance to elements that are toxic for crop species 8 – 10 , which allow Amazonian soils to maintain some of the most productive ecosystems on Earth while limiting food production even under intensive management 11 . Recent findings suggest that domestication of native plant species dates back to >10,000 years ago in western Amazonia 12 , with the emergence of complex societies that relied on soil management for agriculture occurring <4000 years ago 13 .…”

Modelo conceitual de sistema de alerta e de gestão de riscos e desastres associados a incêndios florestais e desafios para políticas públicas no Brasil

“…Alguns governos estaduais e municipais disponibilizam tractores a comunidades de pequenos produtores geralmente localizadas em assentamentos agrários do Incra, o que pode vir ou não acompanhado de apoio financeiro para a compra de fertilizantes e para o transporte destes insumos à comunidade. Há pelo menos dois objectivos desta acção: promover a substituição de queimadas por tractores e aumentar a produtividade da pequena produção (Morello et al, 2018b). Em Rio Branco, no Acre, a secretaria de Agricultura e Floresta Há também iniciativas voltadas a desestimular as queimadas por meio de acções de "comando-econtrole", as quais estabelecem um limite ao uso do fogo, fiscalizam o cumprimento do limite e aplicam sanções às transgressões.…”