Analysis of Alternative Fallow Systems for Rice Production in the Savannah Soils of West Africa: a Risk-Efficiency Approach

摘要

In the savannah regions of West Africa, traditional natural fallow systems can no longer sustain cropping systems because of increasing human and livestock populations. These fallow systems have become short in duration and because farmers cannot afford chemical fertilizers, productivity has been declining over the years. An alternative short-duration, improved fallow system, which incorporates the cover crop, Callopogonium mucunoides was investigated in a rice production system in the northern savannah zone of Ghana, West Africa. The C. mucunoides improved fallow system was compared with a traditional natural bush fallow and a continuous rice cropping systems in terms of rice yields, incomes and risk efficiency. Mean yields and incomes from the improved fallow cropping sequence were significantly higher than those from the other cropping sequences. Results from stochastic dominance approach to ranking alternatives suggest that the improved fallow system involving C. mucunoides is more risk-efficient than the traditional natural follow system.