Adoption of Soil Conservation Technologies among Farmers in the Upper East Region of Ghana

International Journal Of Agricultural Science, Research And Technology In Extension And Education Systems

مقاله 9، دوره 4، شماره 2، مهر 2014، صفحه 61-76   

نویسندگان

Fariya Abubakari^{* 1}؛ Farida Abubakari¹؛ Victor Owusu²

¹Council for Scientific and Industrial Research- Soil Research Institute, Kumasi, Ghana /Department of Agricultural Economics, Agribusiness and Extension, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

²Department of Agricultural Economics, Agribusiness and Extension, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

چکیده

Soil erosion is one of the most important forms of land degradation that threatens continued and sustained agricultural production in Ghana. The most severely affected areas are the three northern regions especially Upper East Region, where large tracts of land have been destroyed by water erosion leading to soil depth reduction and decline in soil fertility. This study was carried out in Talensi Nabdam District of Upper East Region of Ghana to examine the adoption of soil conservation technologies of rural farmers in the district. A random sample of 350 household was selected from seven communities in the district. Questionnaires administered in the area provided primary data needed for analysis. Descriptive statistics were employed in describing the socio-economic characteristic of farmers. Mean was used to rank the constraints and perception indices were used to analyze for the perception of farmers on the various soil conservation technologies. Probit model was used in the analysis of factors that influenced farmer’s decision to adopt soil conservation technologies and among the eight variables fitted in the model, four were found to be significant for stonebunds, three for earthbunds, three for vertiver grass and three for manure. Farmer based organization, household size; extension contact and labour were significant for stonebunds. Education, household size and labour were significant for earthbunds. Gender, household size and extension contact were significant for vertiver grass. Gender, household size and extension contact were significant for manure. Age, marital status and credit have no significant effects on farmers adopting all the conservation technologies.

کلیدواژه‌ها

soil erosion؛ Soil conservation technologies؛ Land degradation

مراجع

1) Ahmad, R. (2009). Analysis of factors affecting adoption of sustainable soil conservation practices among wheat growers. World Applied Sciences Journal, 6(5):644-651. 2) Environmental Protection Authority. (2002). Third National Report to the Committee for the Review of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, EPA, Accra.

3) FAO. (2000). Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. http://www.fao.org/livestock/agap/frg/oldafris/data/314.htm. Accessed on 28/03/10. 4) Bai, Z. G., et al (2008). Global assessment of land degradation and improvement: 1. identification by remote sensing. Report 2008/01. Wageningen, Netherlands: ISRIC—World Soil Information, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 5) Stonehouse, P. D. (1991). The economics of tillage for large- scale mechanized farms. Soil and Tillage Resource, 20 (2):333-352. 6) World Bank (2006). Natural Resources Management and the Sustainability of Economic Growth. Economic and Sector Work, Washington D.C. World Bank. 7) World Bank, DFID, ISSER. (2005). Economic and Sector Work, Ghana. Natural Resource Management and Growth Sustainability.