Abstract
Pearl millet, an earlier major staple food crop in parts of Meru, has gradually faced neglect and abandonment to the point of complete abandonment. Pearl millet is highly adapted to the biophysical factors in Tigania west district and this makes it better placed and more fitting crop for the district. However, with time households have entirely shifted to growing maize as a substitute to pearl millet to the point of complete substitution. This study aimed at identifying and analyzing the factors that have led to pearl millet abandonment by farmers in Tigania West District and the consequential economic implications. Tharaka district which currently grows pearl millet was used in drawing a profitability comparison between maize and pearl millet crop enterprises. A sample of 160 farmers was selected from the population of small-scale farmers in the district. Both Primary and secondary data were collected through administration of a structured questionnaire and extensive literature review respectively. Descriptive statistics and gross margin analysis were applied in analysis and interpretation of results.Levene's test for equality of variances and t-test for equality of means was carried to establish the equality of variances and mean gross margins for the two samples. The results indicate that 62.5 percent of the respondents substituted pearl millet for maize due maize's flexibility attribute. Pearl millet was abandoned mainly due to its labor intensiveness (95 percent of the respondents) particularly during its last phase of growth when birds invade pearl millet fields. The study results indicate that pearl millet is much more profitable than maize (pearl millet gross margin is KES 498,980 while maize gross margin is KES - 15,118)
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