Abstract
The study was carried out in three villages in the Niger River region where thirty producing farmers per village were surveyed. These surveys concerned the field’s methods of acquisition, the tools used, the labor productivity and the cultivated area extent. The results obtained show that the most dominant mode of acquisition of the rice fields is through contract. In all the three villages, the areas cultivated with animal traction are 10 times larger than those cultivated manually during the first plowing and the second plowing (leveling) was carried out 100% by tillers. The productivity of plowing work is 8 h/ha with motorized tools against 1 days/ha in animal traction and 10 persons/days/ha manually. The tillers constitute the highest motorized tools used. They are 37 with an average of 1.23 ± 2.38/person for the farmers of Libore Bani Goungou against 35 with an average of 1.16 ± 2.25/person for those of Gueri Guinde Zarma and 34 with an average of 1.13 ± 2.19/person for the farmers of Saga Goungou. For animal-drawn plows, the highest number was observed in Saga Goungou where 45 were counted with an average of 1.2 ± 2.9/person against 41 with an average of 1.36 ± 4.94/person in Libore Bani Goungou and 40 with an average of 1.33 ± 4.82/person at Gueri Guinde Zarma. The efficiency of motorized hulling (125 Kg/h) is ten times higher than that of manual hulling. Key words: Rice, productivity, animal traction, mechanization, Niger.
Highlights
Niger is a country with an agro-pastoral vocation
For the intensification of irrigated crops, especially rice, efforts undertaken by Niger government and its development partners have made it possible to carry out 58 Hydro Agricultural Plannings for rice cultivation totaling 8 500 ha out of the 24 000 ha of cultivable plots (ONAHA, 2013)
National rice production is estimated at 132 030 tones of paddy, of which 70 000 tones are produced on the Hydro Agricultural Plannings in the Niger
Summary
Niger is a country with an agro-pastoral vocation. The country's economy is mainly based on agriculture and livestock which occupy more than 90% of the population (Warouma et al, 2013) and agriculture contributes 40% to the GDP (Ndiaye et al, 2013). National rice production is estimated at 132 030 tones of paddy, of which 70 000 tones are produced on the Hydro Agricultural Plannings in the Niger. River Valley and 62 030 tones excluding Hydro Agricultural Plannings (AGRHYMET, 2006) This production only covers one third (1/3) of the annual national needs estimated at 266 710 tones of white rice (Sido, 2010). The development of mechanization had begun to take shape with the realization of Hydro-agricultural Plannings and the creation of the national agency for that effect (ONAHA, 2013). No study was carried out on the impact of mechanization on rice production at the level of these Hydro-agricultural Plannings.
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