Enhancing Rainwater and Nutrient Use Efficiency for Improved Crop Productivity, Farm Income and Rural Livelihoods in the Volta Basin

Published on 5 August 2010

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Timeline

Start Date: 15 June 2004 | End Date: 14 December 2009

Overview

The CPWF’s project objective was to integrate water use efficiency, soil and nutrient management, and improved germplasm in a systems approach addressing major constraints in agricultural and water productivity of rain fed agriculture, with a focus on marketing, policy and participatory approaches to empower poor small-scale farmers who rely on rain-fed agriculture in the Volta basin.

This was achieved by

•        evaluating and adapting best bet technologies that improve water and nutrient use efficiencies and increase crop productivity in partnership with farmers,

•        using the Decision Support System for Agricultural Technology Transfer (DSSAT) to analyze the effect of microdosage, mineral fertilizer in sorghum cultivation in two management systems, and train project partners in its use, and

•        testing with the farmers the warrantage or inventory credit system for warehousing of farm products, which allows farmers to benefit from micro-credits

The project thus achieved in Burkina Faso and Ghana, to stimulate and strengthen farmers based associations and community based organizations to collaborate with researchers and other stakeholders. Strengthening the research-extension-farmer linkage provided a good foundation for enhancing the adoption of new and promising technologies. And it could establish strategic alliances between key stakeholders including NGOs, Government staff, extension units, farmers’ organizations, private sectors and other research organizations to promote ‘best bet’ crop, water, and nutrient management strategies for scaling up and out across the Volta Basin.

In conclusion the study on farmers’ perception highlighted three major strengths:

1.      the technologies (varieties and fertilizers) are adapted to the agro-climatic conditions, which ensures good yields;

2.      the technical/field protocols do not constitute anymore a constraint to the adoption of technologies;

3.      at the community level, sharing of seeds constitutes a major driver for the increase in agricultural production and dissemination at larger scale

Research Partners

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One Response to “Enhancing Rainwater and Nutrient Use Efficiency for Improved Crop Productivity, Farm Income and Rural Livelihoods in the Volta Basin”

  1. Liu Yuqing says:
    October 29, 2011 at 6:51 pm

    This research is of great importance in crop water productivity.

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