Vol.7 No.2 (2012)

THE ECONOMICS OF MAIZE PRODUCTION UNDER DIFFERENT COWPEA-BASED GREEN MANURE PRACTICES IN THE DERIVED SAVANNA ZONE OF NIGERIA

Fabunmi, T.O.1 and Agbonlahor, M. U.2*.

Abstract
There is a challenge in Nigeria of how to sustainably increase land productivity in the face of land pressures, un-availability and/or high cost of fertilizers, and reduced fallow periods. The present study analyzed the economic potential of producing maize under different regimes of cowpea green manure cropping. Two different field experiments were carried out in the derived savannah zone (part of the grain belt) in Nigeria in the 2009 and 2010 planting season. The first trial evaluated the performance of succeeding maize crops grown after the application of two varieties of cowpea green manure (Drum and Oloyin), grown at different population rates. The second trial involved the agronomic and economic evaluation of succeeding maize yield using three populations of the green manure from the Oloyin under in situ mulch or tilled-in. The field experiments were simultaneously conducted under standardized growth conditions. Production data (input used and output), yield characteristics, and implicit and explicit cost data were collected. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and budgetary analysis. The results show that maize grain yield was significantly enhanced (p< 0.05) by using cowpea green manure. Compared to the controlled plot (no green manure) yields, the net yield was 49% and 75% higher in Experiment I, and by 65% and 69% higher in Experiment 2, in the years 2009 and 2010 respectively. A dense green manure population in the preceding year (>80,000 plants/ha) raised both yield (3,630kg) and profit (N.145,620)1 of maize per hectare in Experiment I. The study concludes that the use of cowpea as green manure raises the economic profits from maize production. The net profit realized was found to be significantly greater (P< 0.05) than the reported mean profit (N.113,660) from the use of chemical fertilizer in the location. The study recommends that manuring maize plots with Drum variety at a minimum population of 80,000 plants/ha is the most economically profitable in maize production system that can be used by small farmers to sustainably raise income and promote soil health as an alternative to chemical fertilizers.

Key words: Green manure, cowpea, derived savannah, gross margin.

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