Interdisciplinary Assessment of Market Oriented Yam Cultivation in Semi-arid Burkina Faso
Yam (Discorea spp.) is a staple food crop in Africa that requires fertile soils and an annual rainfall of about 1,500 mm. However, in the semi-arid North-West of Burkina Faso, farmers produce yam in continuous rotation on degraded soils with annual rainfall of 610–960 mm. Understanding this local kn...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-04-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Agronomy |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fagro.2022.828305/full |
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| author | Olivier Heller Delwendé I. Kiba Delwendé I. Kiba Delwendé I. Kiba Kalifa Wend-Doléa Zida Kim Schneider Hgazat Kouassi Valérie Kouame Ouakoltio Y. A. Traoré Michael Siegrist Emmanuel Frossard |
| author_facet | Olivier Heller Delwendé I. Kiba Delwendé I. Kiba Delwendé I. Kiba Kalifa Wend-Doléa Zida Kim Schneider Hgazat Kouassi Valérie Kouame Ouakoltio Y. A. Traoré Michael Siegrist Emmanuel Frossard |
| author_sort | Olivier Heller |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Yam (Discorea spp.) is a staple food crop in Africa that requires fertile soils and an annual rainfall of about 1,500 mm. However, in the semi-arid North-West of Burkina Faso, farmers produce yam in continuous rotation on degraded soils with annual rainfall of 610–960 mm. Understanding this local know-how can help improve yam cultivation in other regions and cropping systems in Africa. This study evaluated the productivity of this yam farming system in an interdisciplinary manner involving agronomic and economic analyses. We studied the cropping practices and socio-economic conditions of 67 households in 12 villages. We questioned farmers about their yam management schedule and inputs and we measured the yam fresh tuber yields in their fields. We sampled soils, manure and yam tubers for chemical analyses. Then, we calculated soil surface nutrient balances for N, P, and K. We found that the cropping system was characterized by densely planted ridges and relatively small size of harvested tubers. The farmers coped with degrading soils and increasing market demand by applying in average 16.2 t ha−1 of manure. About 31% of the farmers applied an average of 435 kg ha−1 of NPK fertilizer and another 24% applied an average of 300 kg ha−1 of urea. The average yam yield was 16.2 t ha−1, well above the West African average yield of 10.7 t ha−1.The yam had high value (0.59 USD kg−1) at relatively low production expenditure (0.04 USD kg−1), providing farmers the opportunity to increase and diversify incomes. Our results suggest that the development of this intensified yam production may be limited by farmer's low purchasing power of yam seed tubers, fertilizers and labor. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T21:51:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-71c38855c8d54854a756f928e2112264 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2673-3218 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T21:51:20Z |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Agronomy |
| spelling | doaj.art-71c38855c8d54854a756f928e21122642023-03-24T16:42:07ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Agronomy2673-32182022-04-01410.3389/fagro.2022.828305828305Interdisciplinary Assessment of Market Oriented Yam Cultivation in Semi-arid Burkina FasoOlivier Heller0Delwendé I. Kiba1Delwendé I. Kiba2Delwendé I. Kiba3Kalifa Wend-Doléa Zida4Kim Schneider5Hgazat Kouassi Valérie Kouame6Ouakoltio Y. A. Traoré7Michael Siegrist8Emmanuel Frossard9Group for Soil Quality and Soil Use, Agroscope, Zürich, SwitzerlandGroup for Plant Nutrition, ETH Zürich, Lindau, SwitzerlandInstitut de l'Environnement et de Recherches Agricoles, Ouagadougou, Burkina FasoMinistère de l'Agriculture, des Ressources Animales et Halieutiques, Ouagadougou, Burkina FasoMinistère de l'Agriculture, des Ressources Animales et Halieutiques, Ouagadougou, Burkina FasoAntenna Foundation, Géneve, SwitzerlandCentre Suisse de Recherche Scientifique en Côte d'Ivoire, Abidjan, Côte d'IvoireInstitut de l'Environnement et de Recherches Agricoles, Ouagadougou, Burkina FasoGroup for Consumer Behavior, ETH Zürich, Zürich, SwitzerlandGroup for Plant Nutrition, ETH Zürich, Lindau, SwitzerlandYam (Discorea spp.) is a staple food crop in Africa that requires fertile soils and an annual rainfall of about 1,500 mm. However, in the semi-arid North-West of Burkina Faso, farmers produce yam in continuous rotation on degraded soils with annual rainfall of 610–960 mm. Understanding this local know-how can help improve yam cultivation in other regions and cropping systems in Africa. This study evaluated the productivity of this yam farming system in an interdisciplinary manner involving agronomic and economic analyses. We studied the cropping practices and socio-economic conditions of 67 households in 12 villages. We questioned farmers about their yam management schedule and inputs and we measured the yam fresh tuber yields in their fields. We sampled soils, manure and yam tubers for chemical analyses. Then, we calculated soil surface nutrient balances for N, P, and K. We found that the cropping system was characterized by densely planted ridges and relatively small size of harvested tubers. The farmers coped with degrading soils and increasing market demand by applying in average 16.2 t ha−1 of manure. About 31% of the farmers applied an average of 435 kg ha−1 of NPK fertilizer and another 24% applied an average of 300 kg ha−1 of urea. The average yam yield was 16.2 t ha−1, well above the West African average yield of 10.7 t ha−1.The yam had high value (0.59 USD kg−1) at relatively low production expenditure (0.04 USD kg−1), providing farmers the opportunity to increase and diversify incomes. Our results suggest that the development of this intensified yam production may be limited by farmer's low purchasing power of yam seed tubers, fertilizers and labor.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fagro.2022.828305/fullyam cropping systemclimate adaptationsoil organic matter depletionmanure applicationsoil degradationnutrient balance |
| spellingShingle | Olivier Heller Delwendé I. Kiba Delwendé I. Kiba Delwendé I. Kiba Kalifa Wend-Doléa Zida Kim Schneider Hgazat Kouassi Valérie Kouame Ouakoltio Y. A. Traoré Michael Siegrist Emmanuel Frossard Interdisciplinary Assessment of Market Oriented Yam Cultivation in Semi-arid Burkina Faso Frontiers in Agronomy yam cropping system climate adaptation soil organic matter depletion manure application soil degradation nutrient balance |
| title | Interdisciplinary Assessment of Market Oriented Yam Cultivation in Semi-arid Burkina Faso |
| title_full | Interdisciplinary Assessment of Market Oriented Yam Cultivation in Semi-arid Burkina Faso |
| title_fullStr | Interdisciplinary Assessment of Market Oriented Yam Cultivation in Semi-arid Burkina Faso |
| title_full_unstemmed | Interdisciplinary Assessment of Market Oriented Yam Cultivation in Semi-arid Burkina Faso |
| title_short | Interdisciplinary Assessment of Market Oriented Yam Cultivation in Semi-arid Burkina Faso |
| title_sort | interdisciplinary assessment of market oriented yam cultivation in semi arid burkina faso |
| topic | yam cropping system climate adaptation soil organic matter depletion manure application soil degradation nutrient balance |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fagro.2022.828305/full |
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