Smallholder farms, mainly rain-fed dominate the agricultural sector in Ghana, accounting for about 80% of total production. Cultivation is mostly of indigenous and non-traditional varieties, characterized by low produ...Smallholder farms, mainly rain-fed dominate the agricultural sector in Ghana, accounting for about 80% of total production. Cultivation is mostly of indigenous and non-traditional varieties, characterized by low productivity, and compounded by production shocks due to environmental stresses. The research introduced vegetable farmers to better irrigation and compost management practices using the nuclear and isotopic techniques. On the average, yield of vegetables increase by 9.2% under irrigation and organic manure application compared to yield under the conventional method. Farmers saved 60%-70% of the total cost on water per acre using drip irrigation. Relative to conventional methods, farmers save at least US$70 per acre on fertilizer taking in to account cost of converting manure to compost. The result also revealed that, overall poverty gap among farmers who only depends on rain fall needed an additional 55% of the present income to attain minimum basket of their basic needs compared to 30% among some of those who irrigate in addition to rainfall. Results of our study have shown that farmers could gain financially, redeem themselves from poverty as well as improving their social conditions and ensure ecologically sustainable development with Small Scale Irrigation integrated with the right composting recipe.展开更多
文摘Smallholder farms, mainly rain-fed dominate the agricultural sector in Ghana, accounting for about 80% of total production. Cultivation is mostly of indigenous and non-traditional varieties, characterized by low productivity, and compounded by production shocks due to environmental stresses. The research introduced vegetable farmers to better irrigation and compost management practices using the nuclear and isotopic techniques. On the average, yield of vegetables increase by 9.2% under irrigation and organic manure application compared to yield under the conventional method. Farmers saved 60%-70% of the total cost on water per acre using drip irrigation. Relative to conventional methods, farmers save at least US$70 per acre on fertilizer taking in to account cost of converting manure to compost. The result also revealed that, overall poverty gap among farmers who only depends on rain fall needed an additional 55% of the present income to attain minimum basket of their basic needs compared to 30% among some of those who irrigate in addition to rainfall. Results of our study have shown that farmers could gain financially, redeem themselves from poverty as well as improving their social conditions and ensure ecologically sustainable development with Small Scale Irrigation integrated with the right composting recipe.
