Effect of termite mounds and chemical fertilizer on the cotton and maize yield: An evidence from the Pendjari Region (north west Benin)

Abstract

Like in many other developing countries, smallholder farmers in the Pendjari region located in NorthBenin have low crop productivities and further earn low income. This is due in a large part to soil fertility decline and expensive chemical fertilizers. In these settings, the soil fertility potential of termite mounds is a free-of-charge option to explore. A study is conducted in Tanguieta and Materi to analyse
possible effect of termite mound and chemical fertilizer on cotton and maize yield. A Generalized Power Production Function is used on farming system and household data collected on a random sample of 152 farmers with questionnaire. The results suggest that cotton and maize yield functions are elastic to the quantity of chemical fertilizers and to the density of termite mounds. Termite mound and chemical fertilizer are shown to have effect on cotton yield. In addition, 79.2% of cotton producers in the study area have the optimal factor combination according to these two inputs while the opposite is true for maize producers. These results also suggest that farmers may know how to valuate termites’ fertility effect without knowing how to combine it with the chemical fertilizer.

Key words: Generalized Power Production Function, Termite, Fertilizers, Pendjari, Benin.