Version 1
: Received: 9 September 2024 / Approved: 10 September 2024 / Online: 10 September 2024 (13:22:20 CEST)
How to cite:
Arouna, A.; Dzomeku, I. K.; Shaibu, A.-G.; Nurudeen, A. R. Farmers’ Perception Assessment of Water and Agronomic Management in Rice Irrigation Schemes in Togo. Preprints2024, 2024090816. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202409.0816.v1
Arouna, A.; Dzomeku, I. K.; Shaibu, A.-G.; Nurudeen, A. R. Farmers’ Perception Assessment of Water and Agronomic Management in Rice Irrigation Schemes in Togo. Preprints 2024, 2024090816. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202409.0816.v1
Arouna, A.; Dzomeku, I. K.; Shaibu, A.-G.; Nurudeen, A. R. Farmers’ Perception Assessment of Water and Agronomic Management in Rice Irrigation Schemes in Togo. Preprints2024, 2024090816. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202409.0816.v1
APA Style
Arouna, A., Dzomeku, I. K., Shaibu, A. G., & Nurudeen, A. R. (2024). Farmers’ Perception Assessment of Water and Agronomic Management in Rice Irrigation Schemes in Togo. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202409.0816.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Arouna, A., Abdul-Ganiyu Shaibu and Abdul Rahman Nurudeen. 2024 "Farmers’ Perception Assessment of Water and Agronomic Management in Rice Irrigation Schemes in Togo" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202409.0816.v1
Abstract
This paper assessed rice farmers' perceptions of agricultural and irrigation practices through their choices. A survey was carried out among 278 rice farmers on five irrigation schemes in three agro-ecological zones of Togo, viz. the savannah region, the forest region and the coastal region. The sample of random respondents was selected from a list of rice farmers provided by the managers of these irrigated schemes. Data collected through face-to-face interviews using kobocollect software were analyzed with R 4.2 software, and the Pearson test was validated at the 5% level. The results showed that the socio-economic characteristics of the rice growers, such as access to agricultural credit, experience, non-agricultural activities, membership of a rice growers' cooperative, gender, level of education and training in growing irrigated rice, and farm labor, significantly influenced the choice of agronomic practices and irrigation management. Characteristics such as experience, training and hired farm labor enhanced paddy yields, while access to agricultural credit was unproductive. Chemical clearing combined with stump removal, tiller ploughing, transplanting and high plant density are the agricultural practices that increased paddy yields, while tiller mudding and basal mineral fertilization were inefficient. In the same way, water distribution by demand, water depth above the soil of less than 5 cm, use of water-saving technologies and farmer's knowledge of how to improve water and fertilizer use-efficiency also helped to boost paddy yields. For sustainable rice production in the context of labor shortages and the financial resources required, future studies will focus on the effectiveness of motorized mudding and agricultural credits for rice farmers. Furthermore, considering the crucial role of training in the adopting of good agricultural and irrigation practices, future research will study strategies for wide diffusion of knowledge to rice producers.
Keywords
evaluation; agronomic practices; irrigation water management; rice irrigation schemes; Togo
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Agricultural Science and Agronomy
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
