Abstract
Current land use trends show an increasing preference for monocropping – mostly a consequence of policies and incentives aimed at enhancing the intensification of cereals. This shift has caused some to question whether legume–cereal rotations can remain economically viable options for farmers, particularly in the dry areas. In this paper, we present the results of an endogenous switching regression model which suggests, for the first time, that legume–cereal rotations have clear economic advantages over cereal monocropping. Rotations provide higher yields, gross margins, and consumption of wheat and faba beans. Most past economic analyses on rotation used data from experimental stations or small-sized farmer surveys covering only one season and variety. This study makes an important improvement by employing two-year data from a large sample of 1230 farm households and their 2643 fields cultivated with different varieties of wheat and faba beans in the wheat-based production system of Morocco. Assuming a biennial rotation – the fastest cycle possible in a rainfed dryland system, this paper is also the first to demonstrate that joint adoption of rotations and improved faba bean varieties leads to a two-year average gross margin that is US$537/ha (48%) higher than wheat monocropping. This is the highest economic benefit of all available cropping options. A striking result of the study is that, contrary to common expectations, adopters of rotation did not use lesser amounts of nitrogen fertilizer than those monocropping wheat, thereby undermining the ecological benefits of faba bean–wheat rotations. Given that current average applications are below marginal product-maximizing levels, higher marginal yields of nitrogen fertilizers after rotation help explain farmers’ current behavior. Our results suggest that: 1) promoting improved legume varieties may enhance adoption of rotation; and 2) an economic rationale should be used as the main driver of the rotation agenda in the dry areas.
Highlights
Cultivation of faba bean as a rotation crop has great ecological benefits in various cropping systems
Based on the full information maximum likelihood (FIML) estimation of the endogenous switching regression (ESR) model, the average expected treatment and heterogeneity effects of the adoption of a faba bean–wheat rotation on yield and gross margin of the subsequent wheat crop and per capita wheat consumption by household members are provided in the rows represented by group A of Table 2
These results are novel, as they demonstrate that legume– cereal rotations lead to higher yields, gross margins, and consumption of wheat even under biennial rotation, which is the fastest cycle possible in rainfed dryland areas
Summary
Cultivation of faba bean as a rotation crop has great ecological benefits in various cropping systems. It is used as a break crop for cereals (Lopez-Bellido et al 2006) and has the potential to enhance soil nitrogen for subsequent cereal crops (Nuruzzaman et al 2005). Faba bean can improve the economic value of subsequent cereal crops by enhancing their yields and protein content (Ruisi et al 2017). They provide a range of other benefits that are not directly related to nitrogen (N), such as.
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