Is agricultural lime a profitable investment for African smallholders? Evidence from Rwanda

Jaleta Moti, Vasco Silva João, Ruganzu Vicky, Mvuyekure Simon Martin, Mujanama Erick, Voss Rachel C., Chamberlin Jordan, Baudron Frédéric. 2024. Is agricultural lime a profitable investment for African smallholders? Evidence from Rwanda. African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, 18 (3) : 276-293.

Résumé : Soil acidity is a major constraint to crop production in tropical regions. Although agricultural lime is one option to remediate acid soils, there is limited information on the potential returns on investments to liming by smallholders. Using survey data collected from 261 households in Rwanda, we estimated the crop-specific yield response to lime application and associated financial benefits. The estimated average yield gain from lime ranged from 941 kg/ha to 1 579 kg/ha for Irish potato, 562 kg/ha to 709 kg/ha for maize, and 453 kg/ha to 520 kg/ha for beans. With the existing lime and farmgate crop prices, reliable returns on investment from lime were observed for Irish potato, while applying lime to maize and bean was only profitable at a 50% lime price subsidy. As maize and beans are the major staple crops in Rwanda, the subsidy for ag-lime use in improving crop productivity is highly justifiable. The results inform policy decisions in considering market-oriented crops and subsidies when promoting agricultural lime in acid soils under smallholder conditions.

Mots-clés Agrovoc : chaux agricole, chaux (amendement), rendement des cultures, chaulage, pratique culturale, petit agriculteur, enquête sur les exploitations agricoles, petite exploitation agricole

Mots-clés géographiques Agrovoc : Rwanda

Mots-clés libres : Acid soil management, Soil health, Yield response, Input subsid, Profitability, Technology adoption

Classification Agris : F07 - Façons culturales
F08 - Systèmes et modes de culture
E90 - Structure agraire

Champ stratégique Cirad : CTS 5 (2019-) - Territoires

Agences de financement hors UE : Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bundesministerium für Gesundheit und Frauen

Projets sur financement : (USA) Guiding Acid Soil Management Investments in Africa

Auteurs et affiliations

• Jaleta Moti, CIMMYT (ETH)
• Vasco Silva João, CIMMYT (ZWE)
• Ruganzu Vicky, RAB (RWA)
• Mvuyekure Simon Martin, RAB (RWA)
• Mujanama Erick, UNILAK (RWA)
• Voss Rachel C., CIMMYT (KEN)
• Chamberlin Jordan, CIMMYT (KEN)
• Baudron Frédéric, CIRAD-PERSYST-UPR AIDA (FRA) ORCID: 0000-0002-5648-2083 - auteur correspondant

Source : Cirad-Agritrop (https://agritrop.cirad.fr/610848/)

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