Revisiting innovation practices in subsistence farming: the net effects of land management, pesticide, herbicide and fungicide practices on expected crop harvest in Ethiopia

Adah-Kole Emmanuel Onjewu, Vahid Jafari-Sadeghi and Sundas Hussain

International Journal of Technological Learning, Innovation and Development, 2022, vol. 14, issue 1/2, 23-51

Abstract: To settle inconsistent findings in the farming innovation and productivity nexus, this inquiry examines the land management practices of 7,625 households in rural Ethiopia. Specifically, the net effects of: 1) improved seeds; 2) mixed cropping; 3) row planting on the use of; 4) pesticides; 5) herbicides; 6) fungicides are assessed. Using a structural equation technique, the study probes how these six practices predict households' expected harvest. It is found that while improved seeds increase pesticide, herbicide and fungicide use, mixed cropping and row planting generally reduce these practices. Moreover, mixed cropping moderately increases expected harvest while improved seeds and row planting have the reverse effect. The interrelations of these factors increase knowledge in contingency-driven agronomics, and provoke reflection on the sustainability of land management practices. Particularly, opposed to prevailing views, it is demonstrated that sowing traditional seeds will reduce households' reliance on pesticides, herbicides and fungicides. The inherent findings speak to policy-makers tasked with supporting peasant life in rural Ethiopia and similar contexts.

Keywords: improved seeds; mixed cropping; row planting; pesticides; herbicides; fungicides; expected harvest; farming innovation; subsistence farming; structural equation modelling; Ethiopia. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=121477 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ids:ijtlid:v:14:y:2022:i:1/2:p:23-51

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in International Journal of Technological Learning, Innovation and Development from Inderscience Enterprises Ltd
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sarah Parker ().