Tradeoffs in Crop Residue Utilization in Mixed Crop-Livestock Systems and Implications for Conservation Agriculture and Sustainable Land Management

Moti Jaleta (), Menale Kassie and Bekele A. Shiferaw

No 126282, 2012 Conference, August 18-24, 2012, Foz do Iguacu, Brazil from International Association of Agricultural Economists

Abstract: Crop residue use for soil mulch and animal feed are the two major competing purposes and the basic source of fundamental challenge in conservation agriculture (CA) where residue retention on farm plots is one of the three CA principles. Using survey data from Kenya and applying bivariate ordered Probit and bivariate Tobit models, this paper analyzes the tradeoffs in maize residue use as soil mulch and livestock feed in mixed farming systems. Results show that both the proportion and quantity of maize residue used for soil mulch and livestock feed are strongly affected by agroecology and livestock holding. Farmer knowledge about alternative use of crop residues and farmer perception of soil erosion risk (proxied through plot steepness) positively affect the amount of residue farmers retain on maize plots. Results imply that crop residue use as soil mulch in conservation agriculture is challenged in mixed crop-livestock systems and particularly by smallholder farmers owning cross-bred and exotic dairy animals. In general, reducing the demand for crop residues as livestock feed through the introduction of alternative feed sources, better extension services on the use of crop residue as soil mulch and designing agroecology specific strategies and interventions could facilitate the adoption and expansion of CA-based practices in mixed crop-livestock systems.

Keywords: Agricultural and Food Policy; Crop Production/Industries; Environmental Economics and Policy; Livestock Production/Industries; Production Economics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 29
Date: 2012
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr, nep-agr and nep-env
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:iaae12:126282

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.126282

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