Increase Land Productivity Research Articles

Agrophotovoltaic systems: applications, challenges, and opportunities. A review

The expansion of renewable energies aims at meeting the global energy demand while replacing fossil fuels. However, it requires large areas of land. At the same time, food security is threatened by the impacts of climate change and a growing world population. This has led to increasing competition for limited land resources. In this context, the combination of photovoltaics and plant production — often referred to as agrophotovoltaic (APV) or agrivoltaic systems — has been suggested as an opportunity for the synergistic combination of renewable energy and food production. Although this technology has already been applied in various commercial projects, its practicability and impact on crop production have hardly been investigated. In this review, we give a short summary of the current state of the art and prospective opportunities for the application of APV systems. In addition, we discuss microclimatic alterations and the resulting impacts of APV on crop production. Our main findings are that (1) crop cultivation underneath APV can lead to declining crop yields as solar radiation is expected to be reduced by about one third underneath the panels. However, microclimatic heterogeneities and their impact on crop yields are missing reference and thus, remain uncertain. (2) Through combined energy and crop production, APV can increase land productivity by up to 70%. (3) Given the impacts of climate change and conditions in arid climates, potential benefits are likely for crop production through additional shading and observed improvements of water productivity. (4) In addition, APV enhances the economic value of farming and can contribute to decentralized, off-grid electrification in developing and rural areas, thus further improving agricultural productivity. As such, APV can be a valuable technical approach for more sustainable agriculture, helping to meet current and prospective needs of energy and food production and simultaneously sparing land resources.

Review on the Current Status of Poverty and Its Determinants in Ethiopia

The study was mainly focused on assessing current poverty status and its determinants in Ethiopia. Specifically aims to review the level of poverty status, causes of poverty and determinants of poverty in Ethiopia. However, its total population is more than100 million; agriculture is the foundation of its economic growth. Poverty is still a big obstacle to overcome in Ethiopia. Poverty in Ethiopia is caused population pressure, illiteracies, and natural factors like drought, famine etc. Disease, shortage of land, poor use of technology, weak basic services, political instability, inflation, high unemployment rate and etc. Based on generalized results of we reviewed documents the major determinants of poverty were age of household heads, family size per adult equivalent, access to credit service, dependency ratio, and access to health service. Hence, promoting equitable economic growth, family planning, increasing land productivity, increasing credit service, increasing health service, and promoting research extension farmer linkage are indispensable policy interventions to better reduce rural poverty. Key words : Poverty, Determinants, Ethiopia DOI : 10.7176/JPID/50-04 Publication date :June 30 th 2019

EFFECT OF CREDIT ACCESS ON LAND PRODUCTIVITY OF RICE FARMERS IN NIGER STATE, NIGERIA

The study examined the effect of credit access on land productivity of rice farmers in Niger State, Nigeria. Cross sectional survey was used to collect data from 175 rice farmers selected through a systematic sampling procedure. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, and linear regression. The results showed that the mean output/ha, farm size and age were 3275 kg/ha, 1.75ha and 45 years, respectively. The amount of credit obtained was about N16,718. The regression analysis revealed that 60% of the variation in the yield was as a result of the variables included in the model. Also, Seed (p<0.01), fertilizer (p<0.05) and pesticides (p<0.10) had significant and positive effect on land productivity while credit, extension contact and education had negative effect on land productivity. The study concluded that seeds, fertilizers and pesticides were the main factors that could increase land productivity in the study area and thus recommends timely supply of these inputs.

Modelling the location and spatial pattern of a crop boom. A case study from Laos

Crop booms are phenomena of global environmental change that keep on occurring around the globe and frequently exploit or degrade the local socio-ecological resources (resulting in e.g. loss of biodiversity, soil erosion, indebtedness). While causal mechanisms were identified and summarized in several frameworks, the causal effects of the identified factors remained largely unknown. In this study, we set up a new application of a spatial land system model to examine the causes for the clustered spatial pattern of the maize boom between 2000 and 2016 in Sayaboury Province, Laos. The factors tested included market access (travel time to trader companies), land productivity and total net revenue (proxy for profitability), spatial differences in farm gate price of maize, slope, and soil types. While crop booms are commonly associated with high commodity prices and improved market accessibility, our simulation results suggested that the combination of the geographic and economic factors we tested partially contribute to explain the location and spatial extent of the maize boom, but a full explanation has not been found. Interestingly though, temporal dynamics, such as increases in land productivity and profitability had the largest effect on model performance regarding the size of the maize boom area (experiment 2). Productivity and profitability increased thanks to political economic support for the introduction of a series of techniques (i.e. hybrid maize cultivars, herbicides, mechanical tillage and sowing) that made maize mono-cropping disproportionally competitive over other land management. We outline implications of our findings for governance bodies that are faced with crop booms.

Pengaruh Integrasi Tanaman dan Ternak Sapi terhadap Peningkatan Pendapatan dan Produktivitas Petani (Studi Kasus : Petani Kentang di Kecamatan Harian, Kabupaten Samosir)

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh integrasi tanaman dan ternak sapi terhadap produktivitas tanaman dan peningkatan pendapatan petani di Kecamatan Harian, Kabupaten Samosir. Penelitian ini dilaksanakan di Desa Partungko Naginjang, Janji Martahan, dan Siparmahan di Kecamatan Harian, Kabupaten Samosir. Metode Penelitian adalah studi kasus. Analisis data yang digunakan adalah uji t test. Kesimpulan dari penelitian ini adalah integrasi tanaman dan ternak sapi berdampak signifikan terhadap peningkatan produktivitas lahan dengan tanaman kentang per musim tanam, petani peserta integrasi lebih tinggi dibandingkan dengan petani bukan peserta, dengan perbedaan produktivitas lahan adalah sebesar 0,99 ton per Ha dan integrasi tanaman dan ternak sapi berdampak signifikan terhadap peningkatan pendapatan petani. Rata-rata pendapatan petani peserta integrasi per musim tanam lebih tinggi dibandingkan pendapatan petani bukan peserta, dengan perbedaan pendapatan sebesar Rp. 11.562.968 per Ha. Kepada para petani yang belum memanfaatkan integrasi tanaman dan ternak sapi, diharapkan ikut serta sebagai peserta karena memberikan peningkatan pendapatan dan produktivitas petani.

Estimating the effect of mineral fertilizer use on Land productivity and income: Evidence from Ghana

Soil infertility is a major challenge that leads to high levels of food insecurity and poverty. Soil infertility has led to the introduction of fertilizer subsidy programs (FSP) across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to increase fertilizer use. However, poor targeting, lack of effective coordination, and within-country and cross-border leakages have the diminished program’s impact. In addition to the subsidy program, integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) has been widely promoted under the Soil Health Project (SHP) by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) to increase sustainable food production. This paper provides empirical evidence regarding the impact of mineral fertilizer adoption on land productivity and agricultural income among rice farmers in Ghana. Adoption of mineral fertilizer is influenced by access to off-farm income, years of farming experience, residential status of a farmer, total farm size, use of fallow methods of soil management, and household size. Employing endogenous switching regression and propensity score matching methods and using farm household survey data from northern Ghana, we find that mineral fertilizer use significantly increases land productivity and agricultural income by 55% and 30%, respectively. Our results suggest positive welfare effects of fertilizer use, thus supporting the need to increase farmers’ access to mineral fertilizer by eliminating the bottlenecks with respect to input into the subsidy program to ensure that fertilizers are released to farmers on time and applied in a timely manner to fields to improve overall soil fertility and increase sustainable food production.

Can small farms benefit from big companies’ initiatives to promote mechanization in Africa? A case study from Zambia

After years of neglect, there is a renewed interest in agricultural mechanization in Africa. Since government initiatives to promote mechanization are confronted with major governance challenges, private-sector initiatives may offer a promising alternative. However, given limited scientific studies on such private-sector options such approaches are often viewed skeptically. One concern is that multi-national agribusiness companies take advantage of smallholder farmers. Another concern is that mechanization causes rural unemployment. To shed light on these concerns, this paper analyzes an initiative of the agricultural machinery manufacturer John Deere to promote smallholder mechanization in Zambia through a contractor model. The analysis focuses on the impact of this initiative on farmers who receive tractor services using Propensity Score Matching. The results indicate that farmers can almost double their income by cultivating a much larger share of their land. The analysis suggests that the increased income is used for children’s education and more food, but does not result in increased food diversity. The demand for hired labor increases due to land expansion and due to a shift from family labor, including that of children, to hired labor. Questions that require further investigation are identified, including strategies to incentivize tractor owners to provide services, to also increase land productivity, and to avoid new forms of dependency of agricultural laborers that may result from a shift in the timing of the labor demand.

Spatial Distribution and Changes of the Realizable Triple Cropping System in China

Exploiting the full potential of the realizable triple cropping system (RTCS) is one of the most effective methods for increasing land productivity, thus promoting food security. However, insufficient attention is paid to the spatial distribution of the RTCS in China. Here, a method is developed to assess the RTCS in China, considering terrain, climatic conditions, crop climatic-ecological suitability, and the spatial changes in the RTCS between 1951 and 2010. Results indicate that a decrease of 19 Mha was caused by topographic correction, while climate change increased the same area by 14 Mha. Based on crop climatic-ecological conditions, the suitability of the RTCS was indicated for 1068 counties. The boundary of the RTCS moved northward by 100–200 km in the Middle-Lower reaches of the Yangtze River, but southward by approximately 250 km in Yunnan Province. The area of the RTCS is 135 Mha distributed across 775 counties in Southern China. These findings are useful for guiding the policy of cultivated land use in Southern China. The approach can be adopted elsewhere to determine the RTCS for sustainable land use and increasing land productivity.

Explaining virtual water trade: A spatial-temporal analysis of the comparative advantage of land, labor and water in China

The well-known “virtual water hypothesis” states that water-deficient regions/countries could alleviate water stress through importing water-intensive products from water-abundant regions/countries. Although observed trading patterns do often not support this hypothesis, there is a lack of research to explore the reasons why trade patterns often do not support the intuitive virtual water hypothesis. To fill this important gap, we introduce comparative advantage theory in a quantitative way to track the driving forces of net virtual water export based on the spatial-temporal distribution of resource productivity and opportunity costs of land, labor and water use in agricultural and non-agricultural sectors across Chinese provinces between 1995 and 2015. The results show that regional differences in land productivity between agricultural and non-agricultural sectors are the main forces determining the pattern of virtual water flows across major regions, and other resources such as labor and water have played only a limited role. Our study shows that the current market forces reflect the scarcity of land resources, but does not reflect the water scarcity in the context of interregional trade in China. Our findings suggest that the ongoing efforts to increase land productivity of agriculture in the southern regions would contribute to reducing water scarcity in the North and Northeast China Plain.

Land suitability analysis for agriculture, a case study of Kannur district, Kerala

Land suitability is the fitness of a given type of land for a defined use. The land may be considered in its present condition or after improvements. There are several methods used for land suitability analysis. In the paper, an attempt is made to derive land suitability classes by considering relief, landforms, slope, aspect, topographic wetness index (TWI), soils, soil texture, and erosion-prone areas. The relief map is prepared by digitizing contours from the Survey of India’s topographic maps in 1:50,000 scale. SRTM data also used to derive contours, slope, aspect, and topographic wetness index. The study area is chosen in Kannur district in Kerala State. It is situated in the northern part of Kerala. All these eight parameters were digitized using ArcGIS software. Weighted overlay analysis was done for identifying land suitability for agriculture, and derived into different classes based on values and labeled as most suitable (S1), moderately suitable (S2), marginally suitable (S3), not suitable (NS1), and not suitable (NS2). This analysis will be useful for identifying the main limiting factors for agricultural production and enables decision-makers to develop crop management able to increase land productivity. Keywords: Land suitability; topographic wetness index; Weighted overlay analysis

Growth and Yield of Upland Rice Under Intercropping System with Soybean in Sandy Coastal Area

Sandy coastal area in Indonesia is potential for upland rice cultivation, but it has constraints low of nutrient availability such as nitrogen. To solve the low fertility of the sandy land can be done by planting soybean between upland rice under intercropping system due to the soybean is able to provide nitrogen in soil through fixation of N2 in the air by root nodules. Intercropping is an alternative cropping system to increase land productivity, but there is competition between crops under an intercropping system. Reducing of the competition on the system is needed by crops proportion adjustment. The objective of the study is to examine growth and yield component of upland rice at different crops proportion under an intercropping system with soybean in the sandy coastal area. The research was conducted in Samas sandy coastal area, Bantul, Yogyakarta. This research used randomized complete block design (RCBD) with one factor and three blocks. The treatment of this research was five level crops proportion between upland rice and soybean under intercropping system, namely: 100:0; 80:20; 60:40; 40:60; and 20:80, respectively. The results showed that crop growth rate and yield per clump of upland rice increased on crops proportion adjustment under intercropping system with soybean. The crops proportion of 60:40 and 40:60 gave higher crop growth rates that were 1.45 g.dm-2.wk-1 and 1.44 1.45 g.dm-2.wk-1 than upland rice under monoculture (100:0) that was 1.09 g.dm-2.wk-1. The higher crop growth rates in crops proportion of 60:40 and 40:60 were able to give better yield per clump than other that were 17.17 g and 16.46 g, respectively. The yield of upland rice was not different under crops proportion of 100:0, 80:20, and 60:40 and decreased of upland rice proportion until ≤ 40% affected the low yield of upland rice.

Water saving and productivity benefits of SRI: a study of tank, canal and groundwater irrigated settings in South India

Abstract Paddy, which is predominantly cultivated under the conventional inundation method, is the largest water consuming crop in India. Given looming water scarcity, the inundation method of paddy cultivation is no longer sustainable. A newly introduced method of paddy cultivation, popularly known as the System of Rice Intensification (SRI), is reportedly helping to reduce water consumption and increase land productivity. SRI has now been in practice for some years in India but the various impacts of SRI on water saving, land and water productivity as well as on profitability which are expected to vary in different ecological settings – namely in tank, canal and groundwater irrigated areas – remain largely unexplored. In this study, using data collected from a total sample of 300 farmers from three different settings in Tamil Nadu state, an attempt has been made to fill this gap. The study shows that by adopting the SRI method farmers can save about 40% of irrigation water and increase land productivity by about 46% while reducing the cost of cultivation by 23% over the conventional inundation method. While increasing irrigation water productivity and economic water productivity substantially, SRI also generates an additional profit of Rs 17,169/acre (1 USD = INR 70.12; 1 acre = 4047 m2) compared to that realised by non-SRI farmers.

KAJIAN PEMANFAATAN PEMBENAH TANAH UNTUK PERTANIAN BERKELANJUTAN PADA LAHAN SAWAH SUB OPTIMAL DI PROPINSI LAMPUNG

The study was conducted in Central and East Lampung District with consideration for soil fertility in rice fields are planted with rice tends to go down, so that the harvest of dry grain production leveling off. The method used is a survey method, including primary data collection through interviews using questionnaires. Identification of using soil conditioner collected to reveal information about the type of soil conditioner that is known farmers and types soil conditioner once used by farmers. The aim of this study were: (1) an inventory of the type soil conditioner known and used by farmers, as well as the resources and applications dose; (2) determine the benefits and constraints use soil conditioner at the farm level, (3) to know fertilizer efficiency at the farmer level as the impact of soil conditioner utilizing, (4) to study soils conditioner prospect to increase land productivity. The results showed that the organic matter, soil conditioner types known and used in Central Lampung District is Zeolite Agro 2000, ZP.30 (enrichment zeolit with P nutrient) and dolomite, whereas in the East Lampung District is a regular zeolite and dolomite. The use of soil conditioner in both districts useful addition to increasing the production of rice crop about 10-30%, also improve soil fertility and increase the efficiency of nutrient uptake of inorganic fertilizers.

Intercropping of maize, millet, mustard, wheat and ginger increased land productivity and potential economic returns for smallholder terrace farmers in Nepal

Low nitrogen inputs, low crop yield, and low land productivity are major challenges associated with cereal-based sole cropping systems in Nepal. Crop intensification and diversification by introducing legumes as intercrops could help alleviate these challenges. With the presence of diverse crops and cropping systems, particularly in hilly topographies, a range of intercrop options is required. We compared 10 intercrop combinations to native sole cropping systems in the mid-hills of Nepal for two cropping seasons (2015–2017) to identify the most productive and economic intercrop combinations for smallholder terrace agriculture. In the spring-summer season (i.e., mid-March to mid-July), cowpea (var. Makaibodi and Suryabodi) and bean were intercropped with maize in 1:1 rows, whereas soybean, blackgram, and horsegram were broadcast with millet (30:70 ratios) during the rainy-autumn season (i.e., mid-July to mid-November). Pea and lentil were used as pre-winter/winter intercrops (i.e., mid-November to mid-March) in mustard (30:70 ratios), while wheat was planted with pea. Ginger was planted with maize in 1:1 rows during the spring-summer season in which the maize rows were replaced by soybean and lentil during the rainy-autumn and pre-winter/winter season, respectively. Plots were analyzed for yields of individual crops as well as other agronomic indicators including land equivalent ratio (LER), total land output (TLO), harvest index (HI), and potential economic return.Maize + cowpea var. Makaibodi appeared to be the most productive and economic intercrop combination for the spring-summer season (LER – 1.58 and TLO – 4.26 t ha−1, 21% higher than the maize sole crop with an increase in potential economic return by 67%) whereas millet + soybean appeared to be the best combination for the rainy-autumn season (LER – 1.40 and TLO – 2.21 t ha−1, 26% higher than the millet sole crop with a 288% increase in potential income). For the pre-winter/winter season, wheat + pea and mustard + pea combinations appeared to be productive (wheat + pea: LER – 1.31 and TLO – 2.90 t ha-1 i.e., 16% higher than sole wheat with a 54% increase in potential income; mustard + pea: LER – 1.36 and TLO – 2.14 t ha−1 i.e., 30% higher than sole mustard with a 15% increase in potential income). The year round intercrop system (i.e., ginger + maize-soybean) displayed a LER value of 2.45 with increased TLO (21.8 t ha−1 i.e., 2% higher compared to sole ginger) which increased potential economic return by 6%. We conclude that legume intercropping was a robust option across seasons and locations confirming that it could be a promising ecological practice for intensification of cereal-based sole cropping systems on smallholder terraces. Also, it is important to note that soybean and pea provided higher potential net income to farmers as sole crops compared to when they were grown with millet and wheat as intercrops, respectively. It is important that we promote these options to smallholder farmers and disseminate the advantages of legume integration on land productivity, soil fertility management, and income.

Agroforestry systems improve soil physical quality in northwestern Colombian Amazon

Land use change is a global threat to soil quality and related ecosystem services. In Colombian Amazon, forest-cleared lands are predominantly covered by low-input and degraded pastures; but gradually, agroforestry systems (AFS) have been introduced as a sustainable alternative for soil reclamation and increasing land productivity. Although soil physical quality changes can be monitored by multiple indicators, the Visual Evaluation of Soil Structure (VESS) method has emerged as a straightforward, reliable and low-cost tool for assessing and monitoring the impacts of land uses and management agricultural practices on soil quality in different parts of the world. However, the VESS has never been tested in AFS and in Colombian soils. Thus, we conducted a pioneering assessment of soil physical quality in six typical land uses (i.e., forest, pasture and four AFS) using the VESS method in northwestern Colombian Amazon. The VESS assessment takes account characteristics of soil aggregate and biological activity (roots and macrofauna) to assign scores ranging from Sq 1 (good) to Sq 5 (poor physical quality). Moreover, quantitative soil indicators (i.e., bulk density, soil resistance to penetration, soil moisture and soil organic C) were evaluated to correlate with VESS scores. Soil physical changes induced by land use change were efficiently detected by VESS scores. The VESS scores were significantly correlated with key indicators of soil quality. Conversion from Amazon forest to low-input pasture intensively degraded soil physical quality (overall Sq 1.3 vs Sq 4.0). Nevertheless, the adoption of AFS improves soil physical quality (overall Sq 3.2, 2.8, 2.4 and 2.2) in areas previously occupied with pasture, indicating greater potential of soil reclamation under more diversified systems. This study shows that adopting AFS can be a strategy for recovering soil quality and reincorporating degraded lands into productive and sustainable production systems in Amazon regions, and the VESS method can be an useful tool to monitoring soil physical changes in these areas.

Can Big Companiess Initiatives to Promote Mechanization Benefit Small Farms in Africa? A Case Study from Zambia

After many years of neglect, there is a renewed interest in agricultural mechanization in Africa. Since government initiatives to promote mechanization, e.g., by importing and subsidizing tractors, are confronted with major governance challenges, private-sector initiatives offer a promising alternative. This paper analyzes an initiative of the agricultural machinery manufacturer John Deere and its dealership partner AFGRI to promote smallholder mechanization in Zambia through a contractor model. The analysis focuses on the impact of this initiative on smallholder farmers who receive tractor services and on the demand for hired labor. The analysis is based on a survey of 250 smallholders and focus group discussions using Participatory Impact Diagrams. The results of a Propensity Score Matching (PSM) analysis indicate that farmers who access tractor services for land preparation can almost double their income by cultivating a much larger share of the land that they own. The analysis also suggests that the increased income is used for children’s education and for purchasing more food, but does not result in increased food diversity. The findings indicate that the demand for hired labor increases due to the expansion of the cultivated area and due to a shift from family labor, including that of children, to hired labor. Questions that require further investigation are identified, including policies and strategies to increase the incentives of tractor owners to provide services to smallholders, to use mechanization more effectively to increase land productivity, and to avoid new forms of dependency of agricultural laborers that may result.

Assessment of daleh swidden agriculture as an innovative alternative to conventional swidden under conditions of external pressure on local forest management in Kalimantan, Indonesia

Imang N, Rujehan, Duakaju NN. 2018. Assessment of daleh swidden agriculture as an innovative alternative to conventional swidden under conditions of external pressure on local forest management in Kalimantan, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 19: 840-848. Swidden agriculture is still an important livelihood for millions of people in the tropics. In Kalimantan Island of Indonesia, swidden agriculture is currently facing many external pressures such as massive expansion of oil palm plantations, concession for industrial plantations, and non-availability of financial and political support from the government. The above external pressures which ignore local wisdom in forest and land management have reduced the land available for swidden agriculture. The external pressures, in turn, have shortened the cycle of swidden agriculture and decreased the productivity of swidden agriculture. The objectives of the present study are to assess socio-cultural and economic aspects of the innovative daleh agriculture as an alternative to conventional swidden agriculture under these conditions. The study was conducted in an indigenous Bahau Dayak community of East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Twenty swiddeners and 6 other key informants were interviewed for data collection. Research findings confirm that the expansion of oil palm plantations has ignored the wisdom in forest and land management, in general, and caused pressure on swidden agriculture, in particular. Under such pressures, daleh swidden agriculture may be effectively practiced because it can increase land productivity and is also culturally acceptable. Further, financial and facilitation support from district government is needed to improve the practice of swidden agriculture in the study area.

Kesesuaian Galur-Galur Harapan Kedelai untuk Tumpangsari Jagung + Kedelai

<p>Intercropping is one way of increasing land productivity. The research was aimed to determine the suitability of soybean promising lines for maize + soybean intercropping based on land productivity assessed by land equivalent ratio (LER). The research was conducted at Kendalpayak Station Research, Malang, in February to May 2016, using factorial randomized block design, repeated three times. The first factor was cropping system (monoculture and intercropping), the second factor was 55 soybean genotypes. Spacing for maize in the intercropping system was 2.2 m x 0.5 m x 0.2 m, and for soybean was 0.35 m x 0.10 m. In monoculture, spacing for maize was 0.75 m x 0.25 m and for soybean was 0.35 m x 0.10 m. The results showed there was five genotypes suitable for intercropping of maize + soybean based LER value, ie G//IT7-3, M0706//MI196-3, M0706//MI197-4, M0706//MI199-1, and M0706//MI199-2, with LER value of more than 1. Intercropping of maize with these soybean lines, gives a higher land productivity than monoculture.<br /><br />Keywords: Glycine max (L.) Merrill genotype, monoculture, land equivalent ratio, Zea mays <br /><br /></p>

ANALYSIS OF CONTRACT FARMING EFFECTS ON EFFICIENCY AND PRODUCTIVITY OF SMALL-SCALE SUNFLOWER FARMERS IN TANZANIA – A PROPENSITY SCORE METHOD APPROACH

This paper attempts to measure and compare technical efficiency (TE) levels across small scale contract and non-contract sunflowers farmers in Kongwa district, in the central agricultural zone of Tanzania. Sunflower is not the ideal contract crop; it lacks conventional characteristics of a contract crop such as high perishability, product homogeneity, high hygiene, and safety requirement at the end market and product being hard to grow. We apply propensity score method of Rosenbaum and Rubin to mitigate bias arising from observed characteristics among farmers in both groups. Participating in contract farming lead to an average increase in technical efficiency of a farmer by 4.5–7.4%, and this impact is significant at 5% level. Similarly contract participation increases land productivity of a famer by an average, in the range of 20.8–25.1 kg·ac–1. This impact is significant at 5% and the expected output(total factor productivity) per acre of an average contract farm produces 24% more sunflower per acre than non-contract farm. Participation in contract farming has a significantly positive effect on the use of high-quality seeds, which can explain a part of the higher (land) productivity of contract farmers compared to non-contract farmers. By improving service provision from contract firms to farmers (e.g. improved seed provision), there is still a room to improve efficiency, thereby increasing productivity and total output.

Achieving scale of farmer reach with improved common bean technologies: the role of village-based advisors

ABSTRACTPurpose: We assessed the effectiveness of Village-based Advisors (VBAs) as a novel approach for scaling up improved common bean technologies in southern highlands of Tanzania.Design/methodology/approach: Data were gathered through focus group discussions (FGDs) and interviews with 11 VBAs and 102 farmers (37% female). The effectiveness of VBAs was assessed based on farmer reach, farmer knowledge, and application of new technologies.Findings: VBAs played important roles in reaching a wide audience of farmers, with common bean technologies. There was evidence of uptake of promoted common bean practices by farmers, enhanced by judicious incentives such as higher yields, increased land productivity, and labor-saving. VBAs shared information mainly through farm visits and community meetings. Extension materials facilitated VBA engagement of farmers even in informal settings, enhancing information flow beyond village boundaries. The current success of the VBA approach stems from the fact that VBAs are motivated by the rewards they receive – both cash and non-cash.Practical implications: VBAs are relevant in scaling up improved common bean technologies in rural Tanzania and similar settings, because of farmer understanding and trust. For sustainability, there is need to develop a more systematic incentive structure for VBAs through business development, and knowledge enhancement to keep pace with innovations to address emerging production challenges.Theoretical implications: Access to extension service providers who are knowledgeable of farmers’ context enhances learning and uptake of innovations.Originality/value: Results fill information gap on the effectiveness of VBAs as knowledge and input disseminators, achieving scale of farmer reach with agricultural innovations.