Adoption Intensity, Perception and Profitability of Organic Based Soil Fertility Management Technologies in Murang’a and Tharaka-Nithi Counties, Kenya
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Date
2021
Authors
Mwaura, George Gacheru
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
There have been major efforts to introduce and promote organic based
technologies among the smallholder farmers to address low and declining soil
fertility. Despite these efforts, adoption of these organic based technologies has
been dismal. This study aimed to; (1) determine the socio-economic factors that
influence adoption intensity of organic based technologies for soil fertility
management, (2) determine perceived benefits by farmers of using organic based
technologies, and (3) determine the profitability of using organic based
technologies for managing soil fertility. The study was carried out in two subcounties;
Meru-South and Gatanga where these organic based technologies have
been introduced and promoted previously. The study adopted a survey research
design. A sample of 150 households selected randomly from each study area
were interviewed. Tobit regression model was used to analyse the adoption
intensity of organic based technologies. Nine organic based technologies were
adopted. Socio-economic factors that influenced the adoption intensity in
Murang’a were gender of the household (+), age (-), level of education (+),
household size (+), access to external labour (+), training (+), total livestock unit
(+), total land under cultivation (+), title deed ownership (+), agricultural group
membership (+), household access to credit (+). In Tharaka-Nithi, the following
were determinants of adoption intensity gender of the household (+), education
level (+), size of the household (+), access to external labour (+), years of
experience (+), training (+), total livestock unit (+), land under cultivation (+),
title deed ownership (+), agricultural group membership (+), access to credit (+).
The study further examined farmer perception. The perceptions were based on
four variables; potential to improve soil fertility, potential to improve yields,
profitability and labour requirements of organic based inputs. To analyse
farmers’ perceptions, an ordered logit regression model was fitted into the data.
Farmers’ perception results showed that majority of the respondents in Murang’a
(115, 76.7%) and Tharaka-Nithi (104, 69.3%) strongly agreed that organic based
technologies can improve yields. Factors that influenced perception were gender
(-), household size (+), external labour (+), total livestock unit (+), group
membership (+), training (+), land under cultivation (-), and credit access (+).
Financial analysis of the maize enterprise was carried out using the gross margin
analysis. Manure and manure+fertilizer was considered, while sole inorganic
fertilizer was included in the analysis for comparison purposes. Gross margins
showed that in Murang’a manure+fertilizer yielded 1962 Kgha-1, manure yielded
1820Kgha-1, and inorganic fertilizer recorded 1483 Kgha-1. In Tharaka-Nithi,
manure +fertilizer yielded 1940 Kgha-1, manure yielded 1723 Kgha-1, inorganic
fertilizer 1689 Kgha-1. Manure reported higher gross margins (44074) in
Murang’a while manure+fertilizer showed higher gross margins (45625) in
Tharaka-Nithi. This study recommends using organic-based inputs because they
have been perceived to have the potential to increase crop yields and improve
soil fertility. Also, the gross margins of sole manure and manure+fertilizer were
higher than the gross margins of sole fertilizer.
Description
A Thesis submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Agricultural economics in the School of Agriculture and Enterprise Development of Kenyatta University, February, 2021
Keywords
Adoption Intensity, Perception, Profitability, Organic Based, Soil Fertility, Management Technologies, Murang’a, Tharaka-Nithi Counties, Kenya