Comparative Economic Analysis of Organic and Inorganic Fertilizers on Grain Yield of Tropical Maize Varieties

Abstract

Increasing demand for maize in Nigeria has resulted in high use of inorganic fertilizers and these fertilizers are expensive for peasant farmers who dominate farming in the country. The use of inorganic fertilizers also results in hidden cost borne by man and the ecosystem. In a search for a cost-effective and safer alternative, six maize varieties were evaluated using moringa, banana-peel, maize-stalk fertilizer (MBM) both in solid and foliar forms. Gross benefit, net benefit and benefit-cost ratio (BCR) were used to determine enterprises with the highest economic returns. The results showed that maize varieties treated with 90 kg/ha of NPK had the highest grain yield which was significantly comparable with MBM. The application of 120N+50P+40K rate of MBM to single cross hybrid, SCH LY1312-1, resulted in the highest benefit-cost ratio (15.16). MBM is economically more viable than NPK Fertilizer and its application in the solid (powdered) form before planting produced double economic returns compared to foliar application. Single cross hybrids gave better economic returns when the fertilizer was applied in solid form.