Weedy Maize Field in Africa

Ghana leads the way in terms of herbicide use by maize farmers in Africa. Farmers applying herbicides are enjoying higher maize yields, less need for backbreaking handweeding, and lower costs of weeding.

“Herbicide is widely used among maize farmers in Ghana. Seventy-three percent of maize area was applied with herbicide either before or after planting.

Figures in Ghana are far higher than earlier estimates for Africa south of the Sahara: 3 percent adoption among maize smallholders in Africa south of the Sahara.

Plots treated with herbicide have a significantly higher average yield than those without herbicide, with the greatest difference in the Northern Savannah zone. In plots with fertilizer and certified seed, those with herbicide have 1.4 tons/hectare more yield than those without herbicide in the Northern Savannah zone.

Given serious labor constraints and the relatively cheaper herbicide formulations available, herbicide use has been popular across all regions. Comparison of weeding costs suggests that whereas farmers using herbicide spend 359 cedi/hectare total in purchasing herbicide (9 liters at 8 cedi/liter) and an additional 41 person-days for manual weeding, farmers not using herbicide spend 511 cedi/hectare for manual weeding for 73 person-days on average. It is apparent from this calculation that it is cheaper to purchase herbicide than to hire labor or use family labor for weeding.”

Authors: Ragasa, C., et al.
Affiliation: International Food Policy Research Institute.
Title: Patterns of Adoption of Improved Maize Technologies in Ghana.
Source: IFPRI. July, 2013. Working Paper 36. Available at: http://www.ifpri.org/publication/patterns-adoption-improved-maize-technologies-ghana