Stem cuttings of five tree species from dry and semi-arid woodlands (Acacia tortilis, Prosopis juliflora, Terminalia spinosa, Terminalia brownii and Albizia guachapele) and seven species from moist tropical forests (Cordia alliodora, Vochysia hondurensis, Nauclea diderrichii, Ricinodendron heudelotii, Lovoa trichiliodes, Gmelina arborea, Eucalyptus deglupta) have been easily rooted in improved lowtechnology, high humidity polythene propagators in Kenya, Cameroon, Costa Rica and Britain. These propagators, which are cheap to construct, are very effective and have no essential requirements for either piped water or an electricity supply. Experiments have tested different rooting media, auxin applications and compared mist versus non-mist propagation. Assessments of the physical and gaseous environment of the propagators has indicated ways of improving the rooting environment through an understanding of the sensitivity of the relative humidity to radiant energy and to opening the propagator for short periods (eg 2-3 minutes).
Tag: agricultural technology
Village centres to boost cocoa production
The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) has, with other partners, set up the Vision for Change (V4C) project to boost production of cocoa. In the first phase of the project, 2010 to 2013, sixteen Cocoa Development Centre (CDCs) were set up by the project to demonstrate, on farmers’ fields, various recommended technologies for cocoa rehabilitation. Particularly impressive are grafted trees; within 12 months of grafting, new stems on old cocoa trees are producing large, healthy pods. ‘Total replanting’ trials established in 2010 now boast young trees with bright green leaves and characteristic auburn tops, their branches heavy with fruit. Through their role of uniting farmers with better seedlings and services, the 53 new CVC operators will be front and centre of this effort to raise cocoa productivity. More training of CVC operators is planned so the region gets covered.
The Power of Television in Triggering Feedback through Mobile Phones
This study aimed at identifying innovative ways to reach farmers through testing the effectiveness of integrating TV and mobile phone technology in enhancing feedback mechanisms among smallholder farmers. The hypothesis was that the use of TV shows in providing agricultural information to farmers can trigger a high level of interest and feedback through mobile phone technology and hence can change attitudes, increase knowledge and change behavior leading to increased adoption of agricultural technologies.
Farming systems and Conservation Agriculture: Technology, structures and agency in Malawi
Conservation Agriculture (CA) is advocated as an agricultural innovation that will improve smallholder famer resilience to future climate change. Under the conditions presented by the El Niño event of 2015/16, the implementation of CA was examined in southern Malawi at household, district and national institutional levels. Agricultural system constraints experienced by farming households are identified, and in response the technologies, structures and agency associated with CA are evaluated. The most significant constraints were linked to household health, with associated labour and monetary impacts, in addition to the availability of external inputs of fertiliser and improved seed varieties. Our findings show that such constraints are not adequately addressed through current agricultural system support structures, with the institutions surrounding CA (in both Government extension services and NGO agricultural projects) focusing attention predominantly at field level practice, rather than on broader system constraints such as education and health support systems. Limited capacity within local institutions undermines long term efforts to implement new technologies such as CA. It is vitally important that the flexibility of farmers to adapt new technologies in a locally-appropriate manner is not closed down through national and institutional aims to build consensus around narrow technical definitions of a climate-smart technology such as CA. To enable farmers to fully utilise CA programmes, interventions must take a more holistic, cross-sectoral approach, understanding and adapting to address locally experienced constraints. Building capacity within households to adopt new agricultural practices is critical, and integrating healthcare support into agricultural policy is a vital step towards increasing smallholder resilience to future climate change.
Overview of the IV International Conference on Agricultural Engineering and Green Infrastructure for Sustainable Development (AEGISD-IV 2024)
The overview describes the main directions and results of the IV International Conference on Agricultural Engineering and Green Infrastructure for Sustainable Development (AEGISD-IV 2024) held in Tashkent on 28-30 March 2024. It gives the details about the participants and the proceedings.
Bundling of inputs and services for sustainable smallholder agriculture: the concepts, theoretical arguments and bundle designs using conjoint analysis
Product bundling is receiving increasing attention in sustainable agricultural development as a means to ensure access to and enhance the uptake of, agricultural technologies by smallholders. Yet, the how and why of bundling for smallholders are not well-understood. The current paper, therefore, brings bundling theory from the marketing literature to the smallholder context. We use a conjoint experiment, a proven marketing technique for designing new products, services and bundles, to design agricultural input and service bundles for soybean-producing smallholders in rural Ethiopia. The empirical findings from 252 smallholders suggest that product bundling enhances smallholders’ preferences and hence intentions to adopt technologies but that bundles must be designed carefully following a smallholder-centric approach. Drawing on our findings and the literature, we delineate the different steps that need to be taken to develop bundles for the successful uptake of new technologies by smallholders.
Land and technology requirements for economically prosperous smallholder farming in sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from Tanzania
Making a living from a small farm is difficult in sub-Saharan Africa. In this paper, we quantify how difficult, using a simple, robust, relation between per capita daily income from farming (FPDI), land per capita and whole-farm net profitability per hectare. This relation allows the calculation of the land area required to generate various levels of household income as a function of farm performance. We use nationally representative household data for Tanzania to investigate the range of whole-farm profitability and to estimate an upper limit for it. For 6818 cases where households with land reported figures for gross crop and livestock revenues and for costs in any of the three years 2009, 2011 or 2013, actual median whole-farm net profitability was only $454/ha/y even without including the opportunity cost of family labour. When those were considered, median net profitability was negative $238/ha/y, i.e. a net loss. The maximum whole-farm profitability achieved was $4485/ha/y without family labour costs and $2742/ha/y with it. We evaluated actual and potential farm performance for their ability to generate a range of values of FPDI up to $10 per person per day. Most farms are not very profitable, particularly when household labour costs are considered, and few would be considered economically prosperous. Our analysis underscores the fact that improving their operations or adopting new technologies alone is unlikely to lift many smallholder farmers out of poverty in developing countries, given typical farm size distributions and reasonable assumptions about the realized economic returns to adoption of currently available agricultural technologies. While continued agricultural R&D investments are certainly worthwhile, such efforts alone will be insufficient to meaningfully address welfare needs of the world’s rural poor. This suggests that agricultural development programs should expand their attention to incorporate off-farm and non-farm components of the rural economy.