Does nitrogen matter for legumes? Starter nitrogen effects on biological and economic benefits of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) in Guinea and Sudan Savanna of west Africa

Open Access JournalThe hypothesis that application of starter nitrogen (N) fertilizer to cowpea may increase grain and fodder yields and profitability was tested in the Guinea and Sudan savanna zones of northern Ghana. Two cowpea varieties (Apagbaala: grain-type and Padi-Tuya: dual purpose) and three N fertilizer rates (0-30-30, 15-30-30 and 30-30-30 N-P2O5-K2O kg/ha) were evaluated using a 2 × 3 factorial treatments arrangement in a randomized complete block design with three replicates. Grain and fodder yields, 100 seed weight (SW) and net return of Padi-Tuya increased significantly compared with Apagbaala in both zones. Application of starter N fertilizer increased grain yield, fodder yield, N use efficiency (NUE) and net return by more than 30% compared with the control in both zones. Padi-Tuya cowpea with 15 kg/ha N fertilizer was risk efficient at all risk aversion levels when only grain was considered, but Padi-Tuya with 30 kg/ha N fertilizer becomes the most risk efficient option when the value of fodder was included. The results suggest that small-scale farmers could apply starter N fertilizer at either 15 kg/ha N for grain only or 30 kg/ha N for both grain and fodder yields improvement of cowpea in West Africa and similar ecologies

Potential impact of groundnut production technology on welfare of smallholder farmers in Ghana

This study was conducted to assess the potential impact of applying a new groundnut planting density on welfare of smallholder farmers in northern Ghana. We used data from on-farm experiments, focus group discussions, and a household survey. We followed three steps in our analysis. First, we conducted cost-benefit analysis in which we showed the economic advantage of the new technology over the farmers’ practice. Second, we predicted adoption rates along timeline using the Adoption and Diffusion Outcome Prediction Tool (ADOPT). Third, using the results of the first and the second steps, we estimated the potential impact of the technology on poverty at household level using a combination of methods such as economic surplus model and econometric model. The cost-benefit analysis shows that increasing plant density increases farmers’ financial returns i.e., the benefit-cost-ratio increases from 1.05 under farmers’ practice to 1.87 under the best plant density option, which is 22 plants/sqm. The adoption prediction analysis shows that the maximum adoption rate for the best practice will be 62% which will take about nine years to reach. At the maximum adoption rate the incidence of extreme poverty will be reduced by about 3.6% if farmers have access to the international groundnut market and by about 2% if they do not have. The intervention will also reduce poverty gap and poverty severity. The results suggest that policy actions which can improve farmers’ access to the international market will enhance farmers’ welfare more than the situation in which farmers have access to domestic markets only. Furthermore, promoting a more integrated groundnut value-chain can broaden the demand base of the produce resulting in higher and sustainable impact of the technology on the welfare of groundnut producers and beyond