Analyse diagnostique des systemes de culture en riziculture de bas-fonds a Gagnoa, au centre ouest de la Cote d’Ivoire

L’analyse diagnostique des systèmes de culture en riziculture de bas-fond vise une meilleure compréhension des pratiques culturales, l’estimation des résultats techniques et économiques, et l’identification des contraintes de production du riz en écologie de bas-fonds en Côte d’Ivoire. L’étude a été réalisée dans le pôle de développement rizicole de Gagnoa au Centre Ouest de la Côte d’Ivoire. La méthode de collecte des données était l’enquête de groupe au niveau village et l’enquête individuelle au niveau ménage basées sur une approche d’automatisation de collecte des données à l’aide des tablettes et Smartphones. La méthodologie d’échantillonnage stratifié et aléatoire a été utilisée. L’enquête a concerné 32 villages et 384 producteurs, à raison de 12 riziculteurs par village. Les résultats ont montré que 80% des riziculteurs chefs de ménage étaient de sexe masculin contre 20 % de riziculteurs chefs de ménage de sexe féminin. La superficie moyenne emblavée pour le riz était de 1 ha. Les rendements, encore faibles, variaient entre 1,53 et 1,70 t/ha, respectivement, en riziculture de bas-fond non aménagé (sans irrigation) et en riziculture de basfond aménagé (avec irrigation). Concernant les performances économiques, le revenu net d’exploitation en riziculture de bas-fond sans irrigation (33.903fcfa/ha) était inférieur à celui de bas-fond avec irrigation (78.083 fcfa/ha). Les riziculteurs à Gagnoa sont confrontés à plusieurs contraintes dont les plus citées sont les mauvaises herbes (29,2 %), les ravageurs, notamment les oiseaux, les mammifères rongeurs et les insectes (15,4 %) et l’insuffisance des moyens financiers (13,9 %). Ces résultats constituent une base utile pour les interventions futures dans le domaine de la riziculture pour assurer la sécurité alimentaire en Côte d’Ivoire.Mots clés: riz de bas-fonds, rentabilité, contraintes, Côte d’IvoireEnglish Title: Analysis of rice cropping systems in lowland ecology in Gagnoa, in the middle west of  Côte d’IvoireEnglish AbstractAnalysis of rice cropping systems in lowland ecology in Gagnoa, in the Middle West of Côte d’Ivoire aims a better understanding of agricultural practices, estimation of technical and economic performance and identification of constraints of rice production. This study was done in the rice hub of Gagnoa. Focus-group and household level interviews with tablets and Smartphones were used for data collection. Stratified and random sampling methods were adopted to select 32 villages and 384 rice producers (12 rice growers per village).Results showed that 80 % of household heads are male and 20 % are female. Rice area in the region was on average 1 ha per household. Yields, still low, varied from 1.53 to 1.70 tons/ha in rainfed lowland and irrigated lowland, respectively. Regarding the economic performances of cropping systems, net revenue in rainfed lowland (33.903 fcfa/ha) is lower than the one in the irrigated system (78.083 fcfa/ha)...infestation (29.2 %), rice pest such as birds, rodent and insects (15.4 %) and lake of credit (13.9 %). These results are useful for further investigations in the rice production for food security in Côte d’Ivoire.Keywords: lowland rice, profitability, constraints, Côte d’Ivoir

Assessing rice production sustainability performance indicators and their gaps in twelve sub-Saharan African countries

The benchmarking and monitoring of rice production performance indicators are essential for improving rice production self-sufficiency, increasing profitability, reducing labor requirements, optimizing fertilizer inputs, engaging youths in rice production, and increasing the overall sustainability of smallholder rice production systems in countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). In this paper, we quantified five sustainability performance indicators (grain yield, net profit, labor productivity, and nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) use efficiencies) to benchmark rice production systems in SSA. Data were collected between 2013–2014 from 2907 farmers from two rice production systems (irrigated and rainfed lowlands) across five agroecological zones (arid, semiarid, humid, subhumid and highlands) in 12 countries (Benin, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Togo). The exploitable gap for each indicator (the difference between the mean of 10 % highest-yielding farms and the mean-yielding farms) was calculated across the countries, the two production systems and agroecological zones. The mean yield varied widely between 2.5 to 5.6 t ha−1 and 0.6 to 2.3 t ha−1 in irrigated and rainfed lowlands, respectively, with an average yield of 4.1 and 1.4 t ha−1, respectively. Across the country-production system combinations, there were yield gaps of 29–69 %, profit gaps of 10–89 %, and labor productivity gaps reaching 71 %. Yield, profit, and labor productivity were positively correlated. They were also positively correlated with N and P fertilizer application rate, but not with N and P use efficiencies. Only between 34–44 % of farmers had desirable ranges in N- or P-use efficiencies in the two production systems. All sites for rainfed lowlands were characterized by low-yield and large gaps in yield, profit, and labor productivity, whereas irrigated lowlands in some countries (Madagascar, Mali, and Togo) have similar characteristics as rainfed ones. We conclude that there is an urgent need to disseminate precision nutrient management practices for optimizing nutrient use efficiency and enhancing rice performance indicators especially in rainfed lowlands as well as low-yielding irrigated lowlands. Furthermore, we propose recommendations for specific categories (i.e. farmer, rice production system, agroecological zone and country) to close performance indicator gaps and to allow the production at scale to achieve rice self-sufficiency in SSA