Determinants of the Availability of Adequate Millet Stover for Mulching in the Sahel

Millet and sorghum stover protect intensively cultivated soils from rapid degradation and promote sustained productivity. Quantities of stover found on farms in the Sahel are mostly inadequate for effective mulching. Surveys conducted in western Niger revealed that the inadequacy of stover for mulching is principally due to the low millet stover yields, particularly in drier areas of the Sahel. The application of P fertilizer represents a feasible option for increasing stover yields. Also, evidence of historical relationships between yearly amounts of stover remaining on farms suggests the possibility of gradual build-up of stover for mulching on farms. Other important determinants of observed level of millet stover are: distance of farms from household compounds, differences in crop production potentials, cropping practice, and interactions between amounts of previous stover, cropping practice and crop production potentials

Economic evaluation of on-station operational scale (OPSCAR) trials conducted at Sadore, Niger

This paper presents an economic evaluation of technology packages based on trials conducted at the Sahelian Center, ICRISAT, Niger during 1986-88. The financial calculations suggest that the application of phosphorus in a manually cultivated rotation of millet with cowpea or annual millet/cowpea intercrop may be the packages to recommend to farmers. The analysis showed that economies of farm size are necessary for relative profitability of using animal traction. Low post-harvest product prices were used to calculate the budgets, therefore, the use of marketing strategies that take advantage of peak prices for grains and fodder could permit substantial improvements upon the calculated returns. On the other hand, technologies that show superior on-station performance typically experience substantial yield gaps under farmer management, and hence the actual sizes of incremented returns would be lower in on-farm situation

An economic evaluation of a long-term experiment on phosphorus and manure amendments to sandy Sahelian soils: Using a stochastic dominance model

Poor fertility status of sandy Sahelian soils represents a major constraint to cereal and legume production. Soil amendment options were evaluated, using a stochastic efficiency framework. Dominance analyses showed that in the presence of annual applications of 30 kg N ha−1 and 30 kg K ha−1, efficient soil amendment options comprise of either the annual application of 8.7 kg P ha−1 in the form of single superphosphates in combination with 5 tonnes manure ha−1 applied every three years or the annual application of 17.5 kg P ha−1 in the form of single superphosphates. Choice between these two efficient options depends on the availability of manure, deficiencies in sandy soils and farmer resource endowments

Comparing productivity of millet-based cropping systems in unstable environments of the Sahel: possibilities and challenges

Falling per capita food production, increasing population pressure on arable land and soil nutrient mining that occurs under traditional cropping systems in West Africa have generated a strong demand for more productive yet sustainable cropping systems. Total factor productivity methodology was used to analyse millet (Pennisetum glaucum)-based cropping systems developed for the Sahel. The traditional cropping system uses low plant densities of intercropped millet and cowpeas, with manual cultivation and no applied P, while non-traditional systems tested in trials in Niger included P application and higher plant densities of sole- or intercropped millet grown with animal or manual tillage. Interspatial total factor productivity comparisons indicate that the new cropping systems were more profitable than the traditional cropping system. However, the determination of the sustainability of the tested systems was constrained by lack of appropriate time series data to cope with environmental instability in the Sahel and changes in resource stocks. In designing new cropping system technologies for areas prone to degradation, a multidisciplinary research strategy is needed to identify and measure resource stock changes that affect productivity. It is also imperative to use crops and system models, particularly in unstable climatic environments, to generate adequate time series data for the measurement of sustainability. Finally, cropping systems evaluated should include both packages and components. This will permit the formulation of recommendations that fit resources or preferences of different farmer

Farmer Preferences for Socioeconomic and Technical Interventions in Groundnut Production System in Niger: Conjoint and Ordered Probit Analyses

Crop production decisions reflect preferences of farmers which are based on the structure of incentives and constraints that characterize agricultural systems. Therefore, an assessment of the intensities of farmer preferences for technical and socioeconomic interventions can provide useful guidance for the choice of appropriate strategies to improve productivity and incomes. Based on surveys conducted in groundnut-growing zones of Niger in West Africa, utilities of selected socioeconomic and technical interventions to farmers were derived through application of conjoint and ordered probit analyses. Across all regional and gender subgroups of respondents, groundnut farmers attach significant importance to access to credit and reliable markets for pods. The introduction of new and more productive varieties per se would not significantly contribute to utilities of farmers at the present time. This possibly implies that until market and credit constraints are alleviated, farmers have lower utility for more productive varieties. Regional diversities were observed in the significance of utilities groundnut farmers can gain from the availability of local small-scale groundnut oil processing plant, fertilizer and changes to traditional rules governing access to land. There is no evidence of genderbased diversity in utilities and, therefore, prioritization of the interventions on the basis of observed utilities will benefit both gender components

Partners in Impact Assessment Summary Proceedings of the ICRISAT/NARS Workshop on Methods and Joint Impact Targets in Western and Central Africa 3-5 May 1995

Regional workshops were held at Sadore, Niger and Samanko, Mali, to evaluate the joint impact of ICRISAT and National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) in Western and Central Africa. Twentyone scientists from ICRISAT and the national program in Cameroon, Chad, and Niger participated in the workshop at Sadore. The Samako workshop was at tended by 18 scientists from ICRISAT, NARS collaborators in Burkina Faso and Mali, INSAH and the West and Central African Sorghum Research Network (WCASRN) . National program representatives identified specific jointly-developed technologies that should be targeted for impact assessment. Methodological approaches for measuring welfare benefits to consumers and producers were discussed and illustrated wi th case studies. Minimum dataset requirements were outlined and protocols for case studies on technologies targeted by NARS partners were develope

farmers knowledge and practices in the management of insect pests of leafy amaranth in kenya

Abstract Amaranth (Amaranthus L.) species are grown for their grain or leaves and contribute to farmers' livelihoods and nutritional food security. Leafy amaranth (LA) is consumed widely as a vegetable in Kenya. An assessment of current farmers' knowledge of pest management practices provides information about future educational needs. Six-hundred LA farmers were interviewed, focus group discussions with farmers, and interviews with key informants were completed in four Kenyan counties. The majority (71%) of survey respondents grew LA on less than 0.25 acre (<0.1 ha) and 59.2% were female. Constraints of LA production differed by counties surveyed. Farmers indicated insects and birds were important in Kiambu and Kisumu counties, whereas in Vihiga and Kisii, capital, markets, and land area for production were important. Farmers stated and ranked importance of the insects they observed during LA production. Eighty-seven percent stated aphids (Hemiptera: Aphididae), as a major pest and 96.8% ranked aphids as the number-one insect pest of LA in all four counties. Two other pests of LA included cotton leafworm, Spodoptera littoralis (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) (0.8%) and spider mites, Tetranychus spp (Trombidiformes; Tetranychidae) (0.7%). Forty-two percent of all LA farmers managed aphids, with 34% using synthetic insecticides and 8% using nonsynthetic methods. Biological controls and host-plant resistance were not mentioned. Educational programs that train farmers about integrated pest management (IPM) in LA production are needed. Future research should determine successful IPM strategies for aphids on LA to reduce insecticide use and improve sustainability and nutritional food security for small-landholder farmers and consumers

Integrated use of fertilizer micro-dosing and Acacia tumida mulching increases millet yield and water use efficiency in Sahelian semi-arid environment

Limited availability of soil organic amendments and unpredictable rainfall, decrease crop yields drastically in the Sahel. There is, therefore, a need to develop an improved technology for conserving soil moisture and enhancing crop yields in the Sahelian semi-arid environment. A 2-year field experiment was conducted to investigate the mulching effects of Acacia tumida pruning relative to commonly applied organic materials in Niger on millet growth, yields and water use efficiency (WUE) under fertilizer micro-dosing technology. We hypothesized that (1) A. tumida pruning is a suitable mulching alternative for crop residues in the biomass-scarce areas of Niger and (2) combined application of A. tumida mulch and fertilizer micro-dosing increases millet yield and water use efficiency. Two fertilizer micro-dosing options (20 kg DAP ha−1, 60 kg NPK ha−1) and three types of organic mulches (millet straw, A. tumida mulch, and manure) and the relevant control treatments were arranged in factorial experiment organized in a randomized complete block design with four replications. Fertilizer micro-dosing increased millet grain yield on average by 28 %. This millet grain yield increased further by 37 % with combined application of fertilizer micro-dosing and organic mulch. Grain yield increases relative to the un-mulched control were 51 % for manure, 46 % for A. tumida mulch and 36 % for millet mulch. Leaf area index and root length density were also greater under mulched plots. Fertilizer micro-dosing increased WUE of millet on average by 24 %, while the addition of A. tumida pruning, manure and millet increased WUE on average 55, 49 and 25 %, respectively. We conclude that combined application of micro-dosing and organic mulch is an effective fertilization strategy to enhance millet yield and water use efficiency in low-input cropping systems and that A. tumida pruning could serve as an appropriate mulching alternative for further increasing crop yields and water use efficiency in the biomass-scarce and drought prone environment such as the Sahel. However, the economic and social implications and the long-term agronomic effects of this agroforestry tree in Sahelian millet based system have to be explored further