Maize farmer preferences for intercropping systems to reduce Striga in Malawi

Silberg, Timothy R.; Richardson, Robert B.; López, María Claudia

doi:10.1007/s12571-020-01013-2

Cited by 18 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 72 publications

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“…Farmers suggested that they would be very motivated to adopt introduced legumes in their cropping systems if there was enough evidence from experiments and trials conducted in their Agricultural Units that showed that this technology could maximize farm benefits. This is consistent with the technique used by other scientists who reported that understanding farmers' many different preferences can help boost the adoption rate of intercropping practices [45].…”

Section: Farmers' Perception Of the Intercropping Practice And The Introduction Of New Legume Species In Their Maize Cropping Systemssupporting

confidence: 89%

Farmer Perceptions of Adopting Novel Legumes in Traditional Maize-Based Farming Systems in the Yucatan Peninsula

et al. 2021

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Intercropping constitutes the traditional farming system practice used in various forms for maize production in the Yucatan peninsula. Although practiced for centuries, problems persist with competition for water, nutrients and light between crop species in traditional farming systems. Furthermore, little is known about farmers’ perceptions regarding changes to traditional maize-legume intercropping systems and their interest in novel crop adoption to increase yields in the system while maintaining the practice. The objective of this study was to investigate the maize-based traditional cropping system by assessing the underlying motives and concepts of farmers to practice intercropping in the Yucatan Peninsula and to examine the association between farmers’ level of knowledge about legumes and decisions to adopt intercropping and related practices therein. Farmer surveys were conducted in nine different regions of the Yucatan Peninsula. We selected Xoy, Euan, Muna, Mama, Tahdziú (Yucatan), Becal, Hecelchacam, Dzitbalché and San Antonio Sahcabchén (Campeche) which are representative of agroecological small-scale farming systems. We used a mixed methods case study analysis involving key informant interviews in eight associations of farmers. A sample frame with 73 farmers was selected in total during February 2021 and April 2021. Basic information such as land use, labor inputs, agricultural production and farmer’s perceptions regarding their intercropping systems were collected. Our research shows that the primary motives for intercropping were due to the ability of intercropping to offer a more diversified range of food for human and animal consumption, as well as to take advantage of different harvest periods that this practice offers. The majority of respondents were likely to favor the idea of introducing new legume species in their maize-based cropping systems. Factors such as the type of cropping system (i.e., intercropping or monocropping), access to water and level of knowledge about legumes influenced their decision to adopt intercropping in their farming systems considerably. This paper contributes to the knowledge on the current state and farmers’ perceptions of intercropping systems in the Yucatan Peninsula.

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Section: Farmers' Perception Of the Intercropping Practice And The Introduction Of New Legume Species In Their Maize Cropping Systemssupporting

confidence: 89%

Farmer Perceptions of Adopting Novel Legumes in Traditional Maize-Based Farming Systems in the Yucatan Peninsula

et al. 2021

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“…We therefore use a fixed coefficient for yield while assuming preference heterogeneity across respondents for the non-yield attributes. The use of yield as a cost variable can also be found in Silberg et al (2020) and their reasoning is that yield is the key measure of food security (and therefore maize choice decisions) and maize grain can constitute a form of exchange in rural communities. In the absence of a correlation between the attributes, in Eq.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trait preference trade-offs among maize farmers in western Kenya

Marenya

Wanyama

Alemu³

et al. 2021

Heliyon

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Farmers inevitably make trade-offs when choosing which crop varieties to grow based on each variety's unique strengths (and weaknesses). This study uses choice experiment data from 1288 maize farmers from western Kenya and applies a mixed logit model to estimate willingness to sacrifice yield as an experimental devise to measure such trade-offs when farmers are called upon to chose varieties with varying levels of desirable agronomic or consumption traits. We find that men and women respondents had similar preferences for maize traits, but differed in the rate of tradeoffs between traits. Women respondents appeared to make larger yield sacrifices for tolerance to drought, Striga weed and good storability than men. Men showed higher willingness to sacrifice yield for closed tip. Implications for gender-sensitive maize breeding and seed market development are drawn.

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“…According to Silberg et al (2017), commercial production of legumes and use of other SI practices like composting are associated with intercropping cereals and legumes in Malawi. In another study, Silberg, Richardson, and Lopez (2020) found that farmers preferred using intercropping as a weed control measure. Mhango, Snapp, and Phiri (2013), also found that constraints including limited access to improved seed and low yields were also key factors limiting farmers from producing legumes.…”

Section: Strategy Support Program | Project Notementioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding the factors that influence cereal-legume adoption amongst smallholder farmers in Malawi

Nindi¹

2021

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Although sustainable intensification (SI) practices such as intercropping of cereals with legumes are believed to offer productivity benefits to farmers, the adoption of cereal-legume intercropping remains low in Malawi. We use dynamic programing to assess the impact of four key constraints that smallholder farmers face. These constraints are i) land, ii) labor, ii) input market access and iv) output market access. We use the model to evaluate farmers' optimal production plans across six scenarios in which these constraints are relaxed and compare their production plans across these scenarios. The farmer's decision process given these alternative scenarios is modeled to assess the impact of these constraints on SI adoption decisions. Our model preliminary results suggest that both resource (land and labor) and institutional constraints (access to input and output market) play a key role in influencing smallholder farmers' SI adoption decisions. The model results help to illustrate how labor constraints, land constraints and limited access to input and output market affect smallholders' adoption of cereal-legume intercropping in Malawi.

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Maize farmer preferences for intercropping systems to reduce Striga in Malawi

Cited by 18 publications

References 72 publications

Farmer Perceptions of Adopting Novel Legumes in Traditional Maize-Based Farming Systems in the Yucatan Peninsula

Farmer Perceptions of Adopting Novel Legumes in Traditional Maize-Based Farming Systems in the Yucatan Peninsula

Trait preference trade-offs among maize farmers in western Kenya

Understanding the factors that influence cereal-legume adoption amongst smallholder farmers in Malawi

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