The importance of farm management training for the African rice Green Revolution: Experimental evidence from rainfed lowland areas in Mozambique

Abstract

The effectiveness of basic farm management training (e.g., seed selection, nursery bed setup, field leveling, bund construction, and transplanting) for the African rice Green Revolution has not been fully examined. This study evaluated a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of such training in the remote rainfed lowland areas of Mozambique. The training taught these practices without introducing modern varieties or inorganic fertilizers. The intention-to-treat (ITT) effect on paddy yield was 447–546 kg/ha (29 %–36 % of the control group average yield), with statistical significance at 7 %–8%. The results indicate that the adoption of these basic practices alone can improve paddy yield without relying on modern purchased inputs, which are usually not readily available in remote local markets or affordable to cash-constrained farmers. Complementarity among these basic practices is also suggested in that the yield increase had the highest statistical significance when all five practices were adopted.