A socio-economic survey among cocoa farmers on fertilizer utilization in Ghanaian cocoa farms

Abstract

A socio-economic survey was conducted in some districts of the six cocoa growing regions of Ghana to provide information for adjustment of government’s fertilizer use policy on cocoa farms. The study’s objectives were to determine the proportion of farmers applying fertilizer to their farms, investigate the fertilizer application practices of the farmers, and analyze the determinants of the fertilizer adoption decisions of the farmers. A sample of 300 farmers was selected using multi-stage sampling technique and interviewed with a questionnaire. About 33.0 % of the sampled farmers applied fertilizer to their farms while 66.7 % did not. They on average actually applied 4.25 bags per hectare (1.7 bags per acre) instead of 7.5 bags per hectare (3 bags per acre), indicating under-dosage application. Statistically significant associations were found between fertilizer application and farm size and age of farm. Fertilized farms out-yielded the unfertilized. The binary logistic regression analysis demonstrated that number of farms owned by the farmer, credit availability, region and the Cocoa High Technology (Hi-tech) programme influenced the fertilizer adoption decisions of the farmers.