Which farmers benefit most from sustainable intensification? An ex-ante impact assessment of expanding grain legume production in Malawi

Franke, A.C.; Brand, G.J. van den; Giller, Ken E.

doi:10.1016/j.eja.2014.04.002

Cited by 72 publications

(86 citation statements)

References 33 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The other method, like ours, employs multivariate techniques (factor analysis, clustering) to a posteriori assign farmers to different groups. Several classificatory schemes have been introduced, notablybased on field work in eastern Africa (Tittonell et al 2010;Kamanga et al 2010;Pacini et al 2014;Franke et al 2014). These classifications were usually onedimensional, where all farmers categories could be listed along one axis of resource endowment.…”

Section: Livelihood Dynamicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Agricultural intensification in Nepal, with particular reference to systems of rice intensification

Uprety¹

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Livelihood Dynamicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Agricultural intensification in Nepal, with particular reference to systems of rice intensification

Uprety¹

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…is one of the most important crops grown in Malawi and the crop is well adapted for production in almost all agro-ecological zones of the country. It is a source of food and income for most farmers in the country [1]. In addition, it provides many advantages in sustainable cropping systems [2], including an ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen (N 2 ) via symbiotic N 2 fixation and, hence, alleviates the need to apply large amounts of nitrogen fertilizer [3] Although soybean crop is an important crop, its production under smallholder farms is still low with yields of 40% less (800 kg/ha) on average against the potential yield of 2000 -2500 kg/ha [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimizing Nutrient Use Efficiency and Returns from Soybean Production under Smallholders in Three Agro-Ecologies of Malawi

Munthali¹,

Nalivata²,

Makumba³

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Field trials were conducted to determine the economically optimum fertilizer rates for soybean production and for optimizing net profits in Dedza, Lilongwe and Salima Districts of Malawi. The effects of PK fertilizer rates on rain use efficiency (RUE), harvest index, agronomic use efficiency of phosphorous (AEP) and potassium (AEK), and value cost ratio (VCR) were evaluated. The applied diagnostic PK fertilizer rates significantly improved soybean grain yields, harvest index, rainwater use efficiency, AEP, AEK and returns to fertilizer use expressed as value cost ratio (VCR). However, the results differed significantly (P < 0.01) among the three agro-ecological zones. The VCR values indicated that the most economical and profitable fertilizer rate was 7.5 kg/ha P in Salima, Dedza and Lilongwe. The lowest economical and profitable NP fertilizer rate was 22.5 kg/ha P plus 20 kg/ha K for Dedza and Lilongwe and 15 kg/ha P plus 30 kg/ha K for Salima District. All the VCR values obtained from applying different PK fertilizer nutrient rates were above two implying that all the applied fertilizer rates had a good value of returns to adequately cover against any risks associated with using fertilizers at smallscale under smallholder farms with inadequate financial resources. The results also presented different available NP fertilizer application rate options for maximizing profits for the financially constrained smallholder farmers.

show abstract

“…The former zone has a high need of intensification due to its closeness to urban markets as well as its lower agricultural potential for cassava production compared to the latter. The intensity of fertilizer use could have been limited to resource endowed households only in the Maritime Zone in case of lack of access to close urban markets since resourceconstrained farmers are generally less inclined to use fertilizers due to financial limitations (Franke et al 2014). Beyond the use of fertilizer, emphasis should be placed on the promotion of site-specific balanced fertilizer rates, which should go along with the promotion of good management practices (recommended planting density, planting periods, weeding, disease control, etc.)…”

Section: Balanced Nutrition Increases Cassava Yields and Benefit-costmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…QUEFTS was originally developed for soil fertility evaluation, nutrient requirements assessment and yield prediction for maize under tropical conditions . It has been successfully tested in East Africa (Smaling and Janssen 1993), and thereafter adapted for other crops including rice (Haefele et al 2003;Sattari et al 2014;Witt et al 1999), wheat (Pathak et al 2003), grain legumes (Franke et al 2014) and cassava (Byju et al 2012) in various parts of the world.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding the productivity of cassava in West Africa

Ezui

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Drought stress and sub-optimal soil fertility management are major constraints to crop production in general and to cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) in particular in the rain-fed cropping systems in West Africa. Cassava is an important source of calories for millions of smallholder households in sub-Sahara Africa. The prime aim of this research was to understand cassava productivity in order to contribute to improving yields, food security and farm incomes in rain-fed cassava production systems in West Africa. A long-term goal was to contribute to a decision support tool for site-specific crop and nutrient management recommendations. Firstly, we studied farmers' perception of cassava production constraints, assessed drivers of diversity among households and analysed the suitability of farmers' resource endowment groups to the intensification of cassava production. The results indicate that farmers perceived erractic rainfall and poor soil fertility to be prime constraints to cassava production. The agricultural potential of the area and the proximity to regional markets were major drivers for the adoption of crop intensification options including the use of mineral and organic fertilizers. While the use of mineral and organic fertilizers was common in the Maritime zone that had a low agricultural potential, storage roots yields were below the national average of 2.2 Mg dry matter per hectare, and average incomes of 0.62, 0.46 and 0.46 US$ per capita per day for the high, medium and low farmer resource groups (REGs -HRE, MRE and LRE, respectively) were below the poverty line requirement of 1.25 US$. In the high agricultural potential Plateaux zone, HRE and MRE households passed this poverty line by earning 2.58 and 2.59 US$ per capita per day, respectively, unlike the LRE households with 0.89 US$ per capita per day. Secondly, we investigated the effects of mineral fertilizer on nutrient uptake, nutrient physiological use efficiency and storage roots yields of cassava since soil fertility was a major issue across the zones. We used an approach based on the model for the Quantitative Evaluation of the Fertility of Tropical Soils (QUEFTS). This model was successfully adapted for cassava and it appropriately assessed the response of cassava to N, P and K applications, especially in years with good rainfall. Under high drought stress, the model overestimated cassava yields. Thirdly, we investigated the impact of balanced nutrition on nutrient use efficiency, yield and return on investment compared to blanket fertilizer use as commonly practiced in cassava production systems in Southern Togo, and in Southern and Northern Ghana. The balanced nutrition approach of the QUEFTS model aimed to maximize simultanously nutrient use efficiency of N, P and K in accordance with the plant's needs. Larger nutrient use efficiencies of 20.5 to 23.9 kg storage root dry matter (DM) per kilo crop nutrient equivalent (1kCNE of a nutrient is the quantity of that nutrient that has the same effect on yield as 1 kg of N under balanc...

show abstract

Which farmers benefit most from sustainable intensification? An ex-ante impact assessment of expanding grain legume production in Malawi

Cited by 72 publications

References 33 publications

Agricultural intensification in Nepal, with particular reference to systems of rice intensification

Agricultural intensification in Nepal, with particular reference to systems of rice intensification

Optimizing Nutrient Use Efficiency and Returns from Soybean Production under Smallholders in Three Agro-Ecologies of Malawi

Understanding the productivity of cassava in West Africa

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About