Inefficiency of manual weeding in rainfed rice systems affected by parasitic weeds

Abstract

Manual weeding is the predominant weed control practice and the most labor-consuming activity in smallholder, rainfed rice systems in sub-Saharan Africa. This study investigates the technical inefficiency of weeding labor, other labor, and overall inputs, and identifies sources of technical inefficiency of weeding labor in the context of parasitic weed infestation. The analysis applies a two-stage approach. First, a directional input distance function DEA approach was used to compute input-specific technical inefficiencies. Second, sources of technical inefficiency of weeding labor were identified using a truncated bootstrap regression. Data from 406 randomly selected smallholder farmers from Benin (n = 215) and Côte d'Ivoire (n = 191) were used. The technical inefficiency of weeding labor was high in both countries (58% in Côte d'Ivoire and 69% in Benin). This implies that a substantial fraction of weeding labor could be saved without reducing rice productivity or increasing the use of other inputs. A decrease in the technical inefficiency of weeding labor with an increase in production scale was observed. In addition, weeding regime and education level were each associated to significant changes in the technical inefficiency of weeding labor.JEL classifications: C01, C02, C14, C34

YOLOv7-Based Intelligent Weed Detection and Laser Weeding System Research: Targeting Veronica didyma in Winter Rapeseed Fields

“…Among them, manual weeding, chemical weeding, and mechanical weeding are the most commonly used methods in rapeseed fields. Manual weeding has good efficacy and causes minimal damage to the field environment and crops, but requires a large amount of labor [18]. Chemical weeding kills weeds efficiently and rapidly, especially for large-scale farmland, but most herbicides are toxic to humans and may also pollute the soil, water sources, and air, disrupting the ecological balance [19].…”