Determinants of adoption and disadoption of minimum tillage by cotton farmers in eastern Zambia
| Autor: | Stephen Kabwe, Philip Grabowski, Steven Haggblade, John M. Kerr |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2016 |
| Předmět: |
Resource (biology)
business.product_category Ecology business.industry Qualitative interviews Conservation agriculture 04 agricultural and veterinary sciences 010501 environmental sciences 01 natural sciences Agricultural economics Minimum tillage Plough Crop Agriculture 040103 agronomy & agriculture Land degradation 0401 agriculture forestry and fisheries Animal Science and Zoology business Agronomy and Crop Science 0105 earth and related environmental sciences |
| Zdroj: | Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. 231:54-67 |
| ISSN: | 0167-8809 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.agee.2016.06.027 |
| Popis: | Conservation agriculture (CA) is heralded as a means to increase yields and reverse land degradation in sub-Saharan Africa, but low adoption levels have led to concerns about its suitability for smallholder farming systems. Combining data from surveys and semi-structured interviews, we examine farmers’ motivations for adopting CA and the determinants of adoption and disadoption of hand-hoe and oxen-drawn minimum tillage (MT), a key component of CA. Farmers generally hold favorable opinions about MT, though not for its benefits to the soil but primarily for how it reduces crop losses from erratic rainfall. MT use rates in communities with the highest adoption rates are relatively low (12% of cotton area and 20% of maize area) and disadoption is common (25% of all farmers). Many farmers are interested in adopting MT but the available MT technologies do not match their resource endowments. Labor constraints limit use of hand-hoe basins while equipment costs limit ox-ripping. These results show that farmers are not stuck in traditional hoeing and plowing but are carefully evaluating the benefits and costs of adopting MT. Widespread adoption of CA will require adapting MT technologies to match a broader range of resource endowments. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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