Vanishing Returns? Potential Returns and Constraints to Input Adoption among Smallholder Farmers in Uganda
This paper estimates the profitability of fertilizer and hybrid seeds in Uganda, using agronomic evidence on the yield returns to inputs from experimental fields, as well as output price data from local markets between 2000 and 2012. The results su...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2018
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/726321540832524595/Vanishing-Returns-Potential-Returns-and-Constraints-to-Input-Adoption-among-Smallholder-Farmers-in-Uganda http://hdl.handle.net/10986/30647 |
| Summary: | This paper estimates the profitability
of fertilizer and hybrid seeds in Uganda, using agronomic
evidence on the yield returns to inputs from experimental
fields, as well as output price data from local markets
between 2000 and 2012. The results suggest that the returns
to fertilizer are positive across the entire price range for
beans, maize, and matooke and positive for the top 75
percent of prices for coffee. Commonly available improved
seed varieties for maize and beans increase gains by 32
percent on average. However, accounting for the quality of
the inputs available to farmers in the market, the sizable
positive returns become negative for most of the price
distribution, possibly explaining the low adoption of inputs
in Uganda. The paper also examines the impact of other
factors that could affect input adoption, by using a
relatively long panel data set spanning 12 years. The
analysis finds evidence that enhanced access to economic
markets and past weather conditions have small effects on
input use, and positive correlations between the use of
extension services and knowledge and input use. |
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