Download or read book Maize productivity in Ghana written by Ragasa, Catherine and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2014-09-08 with total page 4 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Maize is an important food crop in Ghana, accounting for more than 50 percent of the countrys total cereal production. The Ghana Grains Development Project (19791997) and the Food Crops Development Project (20002008) made major investments to improve maize yield. Despite these efforts, the average maize yield in Ghana remains one of the lowest in the world, much lower than the average for Africa south of the Sahara.
Download or read book Agronomic performance of open pollinated and hybrid maize varieties Results from on farm trials in northern Ghana written by Van Asselt, Joanna and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2018-02-07 with total page 19 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Maize is an important staple crop in Ghana, but maize productivity is low. Other countries with similar agroecological conditions have increased maize productivity by increasing the use of maize hybrids. This paper presents the results of maize trials in northern Ghana, in which hybrids were tested to see if they performed significantly better than the varieties planted by farmers. This paper details the procedures of the maize trials and presents descriptive statistics of the trial results. The trials demonstrated that two foreign hybrids performed consistently better than Obaatanpa, the most widely used variety in the north. The foreign hybrids performed consistently well in all districts and appear to be well-suited for planting in northern Ghana.
Download or read book Ghana s maize market written by Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2020-04-24 with total page 4 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Maize is a widely consumed and cultivated staple crop in Ghana. It accounts for more than one-quarter of calories consumed, about double that of the second crop, cassava (GSS 2018). About three-quarters of maize consumption is from own production, suggesting maize has limited appeal as a cash crop (Gage et al. 2012). This is set to change as Ghana’s Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) initiative, launched in 2017, prioritizes maize seed and fertilizer distribution and encourages market participation by smallholders (MoFA 2019). Already average maize output over the period 2017 to 2019 has been 40 percent higher than the average output achieved between 2013 and 2016 (MoFA 2020a). Government attributes this dramatic production response to PFJ. It is uncertain whether the maize market in Ghana can absorb increased this increased maize output without significant impacts on market prices or the profitability of maize cultivation.
Download or read book Maize Production in Ghana written by Kwasi Bruce and published by . This book was released on 1985 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Characterization of maize producing households in the Northern Region of Ghana written by and published by CIMMYT. This book was released on with total page 33 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book A Comparative Geographical Analysis of Maize Production in Ghana written by Edwin Akonno Gyasi and published by . This book was released on 1975 with total page 508 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Moving in the Right Direction Maize Productivity and Fertilizer Use and Use Intensity in Ghana written by Antony Chapoto and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The fertilizer subsidy, reintroduced in Ghana in 2008, seems to have led to increased fertilizer use and use intensity among farmers, but there is limited empirical evidence as to whether this increased fertilizer use has reached the optimal intensity level and has contributed to increased productivity. Using cross-sectional data on 630 maize farmers and 645 maize plots in Ghana, this paper provides empirical evidence on the responsiveness of maize yield to fertilizer use and use intensity and the economics of fertilizer use with or without subsidy. Similar to previous studies in Ghana and Africa south of the Sahara, the results show that there is a statistically significant maize yield response (that is, 1 kilogram of nitrogen leads to a yield increase of 22 kilograms per hectare). Despite subsidized prices, the actual application rate for fertilizer adopters (at 44 kilograms of nitrogen per hectare on average) is far below the optimal level (at 225 kilograms of nitrogen per hectare, where the fertilizer price intersects the value of marginal physical product derived from the yield response model). This result suggests limits to fertilizer subsidy as a strategy to increase fertilizer application, productivity, and income among maize farmers in Ghana. Results suggest that fertilizer prices seem not to be the binding constraint in greater fertilizer application and productivity increases in maize. Other factors, including accessibility to modern seed varieties, mechanization, and hired labor, appear to be major obstacles to greater fertilizer application and productivity increases, and these factors would need to be improved to help increase intensity of fertilizer use in both the northern and southern parts of Ghana. Aside from fertilizer, other factors found to positively contribute to higher yield included modern seed variety use, animal manure, herbicide, and the total number of family labor hours spent working in the maize plot. Plots planted with modern varieties have about a 570-kilogram higher yield per hectare than those planted with traditional varieties, while plots fertilized with animal manure have about a 400-kilogram higher yield and plots with herbicide have about a 170-kilogram higher yield than plots without. Significantly higher yields are obtained when fertilizer application is complemented by these inputs. There is no evidence that certified seeds have a significantly higher yield than recycled or uncertified seeds.
Download or read book Performance and adoption factors for open pollinated and hybrid maize varieties Evidence from farmers fields in northern Ghana written by Van Asselt, Joanna and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2018-02-13 with total page 18 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Maize is the most widely grown starch in Ghana, and yet domestic supply does not meet demand, because maize productivity is low. Trials were performed in northern Ghana in 2015 to determine whether hybrid varieties would outperform the varieties planted by farmers and, therefore, increase maize productivity. Two foreign hybrids performed consistently better then Obaatanpa, the most widely used variety in the north. In 2016, Adikanfo, the best performing hybrid, and certified Obaatanpa were made available for purchase at subsidized rates in the communities where the 2015 trials had been conducted. A survey was then carried out to study whether the trials had any effect on technology uptake or behavioral change among farmers in the region and if the varieties performed as well on the farmers’ fields as in the trials. This paper presents the descriptive results of the survey.
Download or read book Breeding for drought and nitrogen stress tolerance in maize From theory to practice written by M. Bänzinger and published by CIMMYT. This book was released on 2000 with total page 69 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Introduction - why breed for drought and low N tolerance?; Conceptual framework - breeding; Conventional approaches to improving the drought and low N tolerance of maize; Conventional approaches challenged; The challenge of breeding for drought and low N tolerance; Maize under drought and low N stress; Conceptual framework - physiology; Water and the maize plant; Nitrogen and the maize plant; Maize under drought and low N stress - consequences for breeding; Stress management; Drought; Low N stress; Statistical designs and layout of experiments; Increasing the number of replicates; Improved statistical designs; Field layout; Border effects from alleys; Secondary traits; Why use secondary traits?; How do we decide on the value of secondary traits in a drought or low N breeding program?; Secondary traits that help to identify drought tolerance; Secondary traits that help to identify low N tolerance: Selection indices - Combining information on secondary traits with grain yield; Combining information from various experiments; Breeding strategies; Choice of germplasm; Breeding schemes; Biotechnology: potential and constraints for improving drought and low N tolerance; The role of the farmer in selection; What is farmer participatory research and why is it important?; What is new about farmer participatory research?; Participatory methodologies.
Download or read book Limitations of contract farming as a pro poor strategy The case of maize outgrower schemes in upper West Ghana written by Ragasa, Catherine and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2017-03-30 with total page 54 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The focus in this paper is on two relatively large maize-based contract farming (CF) schemes with fixed input packages (Masara and Akate) and a number of smaller and more flexible CF schemes in a remote region in Ghana (Upper West). Results show that these schemes led to improved technology adoption and yield increases. In addition, a subset of maize farmers with high yield improvements due to CF participation had high gross margins. However, on average, yields were not high enough to compensate for higher input requirements and cost of capital. On average, households harvest 29–30 bags (100 kg each), or 2.9–3.0 metric tons, of maize per hectare, and the required repayment for fertilizer, seed, herbicide, and materials provided under the average CF scheme is 21–25 bags (50 kg each) per acre, or 2.6–3.0 tons per hectare, which leaves almost none for home consumption or for sale. Despite higher yields, the costs to produce 1 ton of maize under CF schemes remain high on average—higher than on maize farms without CF schemes, more than twice that of several countries in Africa, and more than seven times higher than that of major maize-exporting countries (the United States, Brazil, and Argentina). Sustainability of these CF schemes will depend on, from the firms’ perspective, minimizing the costs to run and monitor them, and from the farmers’ perspective, developing and promoting much-improved varieties and technologies that may lead to a jump in yields and gross margins to compensate for the high cost of credit.
Download or read book Ghana s Economic and Agricultural Transformation written by Xinshen Diao and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2019 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using Ghana as a case study, this work integrates economic and political analysis to explore the challenges and opportunities of Africa's growth and transformation.
Download or read book Maize written by Akbar Hossain and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2020-04-22 with total page 158 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Maize is a staple cereal after wheat and rice. It is an important source of carbohydrate, protein, iron, vitamin B and minerals for many poor people in the world. In developing countries maize is a major source of income in resource-poor farmers. As maize is used both as silage and as crop residue and the grains of maize are usually used for food, starch and oil extraction industrially, the demand for maize is rising day by day. Therefore, it is imperative for improvement of maize to meet the increasing demand. This book entitled "Maize - Production and Use" highlights the importance of maize and the improved management approaches for improving the productivity of maize in the era of changing climate.
Download or read book Maize Production and Markets in Ghana written by C. Schmitz and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 98 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Maize productivity gains through research and technology dissemination written by J. K. Ransom and published by CIMMYT. This book was released on 1997 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Productivity Growth in Agriculture written by Keith Owen Fuglie and published by CABI. This book was released on 2012 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume is written primarily for agricultural economists doing research on productivity. It includes discussions of the theoretical underpinnings of productivity measurement as well as the many practical considerations that go into translating this theory into actual measures of aggregated outputs and inputs. The unifying concept of agricultural productivity used across the chapters of this volume is aggregate total factor productivity (TFP) of the sector. The volume also contains detailed analysis of the underlying causes of agricultural productivity growth. Part I (chapters 2-6) examines agricultural productivity in high-income and transition countries. Part II (chapters 7-11) examines agricultural productivity growth and its driving forces in five important agricultural producers in Asia and Latin America. Part III (chapters 12-14) focuses on measuring and identifying constraints to agricultural productivity growth in sub-Saharan Africa. Part IV (chapters 15-16) gives a global perspective on agricultural productivity.
Download or read book The Maize Industry of Ghana written by and published by . This book was released on 1962 with total page 58 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Proposal for a Maize Development Project in Ghana written by Ghana. Ministry of Agriculture. Planning and Coordination Unit and published by . This book was released on 1971 with total page 174 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
