Inorganic Fertilizer Adoption, Use Intensity and Rainfed Rice Yield in Benin

Abstract

Inorganic fertilizers are alternative ways of providing the necessary nutrients to rice crop and increase its productivity. In order to identify the factors determining inorganic fertilizer technology adoption and rainfed rice yield, a survey was carried out among 763 farmers in 11 municipalities in four agriculture development centers (ADC) of Benin. Composite soil samples were collected from 227 farmer fields and analyzed at the laboratory. Rainfed rice yields were determined in these different fields. Data collected was analyzed with R version 3.5.1 software. Results show that inorganic fertilizer technology adoption depends significantly on age, educational status, household size, contribution of rice to household income and organic fertilizer use (0.004 < p < 0.034). However, using intensity of inorganic fertilizer is significantly influenced by the age of the farmer, the quality of the training of the farmer on soil fertility management, filed areas under rice crop, contribution of rice to household income, years of farming experience, inorganic fertilizers availability and organic fertilizer use (0.0001 < p < 0.023). Inorganic fertilizer use intensity ranges from 12.6 to 248.9 kg·ha–1 with a mean of 74.68 kg·ha–1. The quantities of inorganic fertilizer applied differ more importantly from one farmer to another and range from 4.58% to 90.5% with a mean of 27.15% of the level recommended by research. However, nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, organic carbon, pH water, and exchanging capacity cation determine the rainfed rice yield. The policies that aim at promoting inorganic fertilizer among rainfed rice farmers must take into account these factors.