Farm factors influencing soil fertility management patterns in Upper Eastern Kenya
| Autor: | Milka N. Kiboi, Jeremiah M. Okeyo, Onesmus K. Ng'etich, Collins M. Musafiri, Joseph M. Macharia, Chris A. Shisanya, F. Mairura, Felix K. Ngetich, Elizabeth A. Okwuosa |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2022 |
| Předmět: |
Environmental Engineering
media_common.quotation_subject Fertility Management Monitoring Policy and Law engineering.material Soil management Agricultural science Land management immune system diseases Income distribution Climate change GE1-350 Waste Management and Disposal media_common Global and Planetary Change Crop enterprises business.industry food and beverages Pollution Manure respiratory tract diseases Environmental sciences Geography Soil technology combination Agriculture Soil water engineering Fertilizer Factor analysis Soil fertility business |
| Zdroj: | Environmental Challenges, Vol 6, Iss, Pp 100409-(2022) |
| ISSN: | 2667-0100 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.envc.2021.100409 |
| Popis: | Farmer adoption of soil technologies has been commonly explored in the literature using binary models, which significantly simplifies the multi-dimensional nature of technology adoption by farmers. Therefore, it is necessary to fill this gap to improve soil technology adoption models to enhance small-scale farmers' soil fertility management practices. We investigated patterns of multiple soil technology adoption using multivariate analysis and regression modeling in Central Kenya. We used a cross-sectional survey design to sample 300 small-scale farmers in Tharaka-Nithi County and employed a multi-stage sampling design. We found that soil nutrient applications and soil fertility management patterns were linked to crop enterprises, driven by socioeconomic farm characteristics. Our findings showed that farmers applied higher N inputs and soil fertility management technologies on crops with high economic and staple use-values. Farmers in high potential agro-ecozones and those with higher incomes and TLU (Tropical Livestock Units) intensity applied higher fertilizer N intensities than farmers with lower incomes and TLU intensity. Farmers in high potential agro-ecozones applied higher fertilizer and manure rates than their counterparts in low potential agro-ecozones of Tharaka-Nithi County. Farm size was inversely related to nitrogen fertilizer application intensity, while farmers had a lower propensity to restore fields undergoing degradation. We obtained five significant sets of soil fertility management technologies that farmers practiced due to the complementary nature of their benefits. We found that farmer perceptions of soil fertility, income distribution, site, education qualifications, credit access, labor availability, and access to extension services influenced their technology adoption patterns. We recommend that farmer sensitization about the fertility of their soils is needed to enhance soil fertility management strategies in small-scale farming systems. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
|