Soil Fertility Management

Module – 15
Economic Aspect of Soil Fertility
Management
 Concept & Principles
• Social and economic factors both within and beyond the farm
greatly influence the interest of farmers for using soil fertility
measures.
• Adoption of INM practices such as Composting, Manure
application, using Soil amendment such as liming, etc... is
determined by socioeconomic factor.
• Because, there is high variability between farmers in terms
of:
 Productiom resources available to invest in the farm.
 Goals and objectives towards production,
 Availability of off-farm income.
• There will be differences in adoption rate and response to
use.
 Concept & Principles

In recommending a given soil fertility management practice, such as

green manuring, composting, manuring, agro forestry, etc., for soil
fertility management we should consider the context of the whole
farm and of the totality of the resources and assets available to the
farmer. These resources and assets include:

• labour (family labour plus hired labour)

• cash to buy fertilizer and other chemicals;
• their entire landholding and the different fields comprising
it;
• assets such as implements, machinery, animal;
• access to water (either on farm or off farm); and
• Access to other off-farm assets (such as communal
resources, forested lands and woodlots):
 Concept & Principles

• Goals and objectives

• Importance of off-farm income
• Amount of production resources available to
invest in the farm
– Land
– Labour
– Animal manure
– Crop residues
– Cash
 Concept & Principles

• Farmers focus on the tradeoffs between the efforts they have to

make to meet their production objectives (being able to produce
enough food for the family, being able to produce a surplus and
to sell it) and the payoffs they expect from these efforts.
• government policies regarding land tenure
• Social customs and norms influence a number of the elements
that farmers need to integrate in their decisions.
• customs and norms determine farmers’ access to many natural
resources, as well as human labour, through the prevailing land
and tree tenure system, and the regulations concerning access
to off-farm resources (water, communal resources such as
forests and woodlots), and access to non-family labour.
 Acceptance and Application
Acceptance and application of technologies depend on:

• Measures bringing long term benefits are difficult for

farmers to put in to practice.
• Farmers are often under pressure from their families under
these circumstance economic calculations make little sense.
• In deciding whether to apply or not farmer compare the
opportunity cost of not applying with the additional benefit
obtained.
• Economic viability
• technical feasibility
• Social acceptability
 Acceptance and Application
It is almost always difficult to introduce something completely new. If it is
customary it is only a short step from there to introduce the modern technology.
Farmers tend to accept innovations only when these offer them a clearly visible
improvement
Concentrate on small demonstration plot
•Economic gain; the loss of income should be offset
•If the benefit of measures is not immediate, acceptance by farmers will be slower
•The income forgone
•Land tenure rented or own land
•Management/labour cost
•Acess to the technology
•Attitude
•Tradition
•Productivity of the land
• Producers must first be aware that new technologies and
information relevant to their farming system are available. Although
obvious, this first factor is easily overlooked. The availability of
information, however, is one of the most important factors cited in
studies of the adoption of new technologies.
• Even if producers are aware of new technologies, they may fail to
adopt them because they are either unable or unwilling to do so
(Nowak, 1992). These reasons are not mutually exclusive. Producers
may be able but unwilling, willing but unable, or both unwilling and
unable. The kind of technical assistance, education, or regulation
required to influence a producer who is unwilling is very different
from that required to influence a producer who is unable
• Recognition of this difference is crucial when designing the
appropriate way to increase the use of new knowledge or
technology. Table 4-1 lists the reasons why producers may
be unable or unwilling to adopt new technologies or farming
systems and also suggests changes in programs that might
help to address those reasons.
• The removal of obstacles to adoption must precede
persuasion for adoption.
• the social and economic contexts of the farm enterprise
• the use of market-based incentives may be needed for
producers who are able but unwilling.
 Consideration for Success

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