Cereal technology development - west African semi-arid tropics : a farming systems perspective

The report"s two principal chapters present basic methodological concepts potentially useful elsewhere in the West African semi-arid tropics (WASAT) regarding baseline studies, on-farm trials, technology evaluation, whole-farm modeling, micro vs. macro approaches to FSR, and institutional aspects, and describe the results of the project"s technology evaluations. The latter focused on five areas: (1) soil fertility/water retention (tied ridges, diguettes/dikes, complex chemical fertilizers, indigenous rock phosphate, animal manure and composting, mulch, plowing/green manuring); (2) labor-saving technologies (animal traction, the mechanical ridge tier, herbicides); (3) improved varieties; (4) crop associations; and (5) present and future sequencing of technology adoption. Also included are an overview of the production environment in the WASAT and a discussion of policy implications and future avenues for research and extension. Five tables illustrate the text; an 8-page list of primarily recent references, a short administrative report, and a list of publications generated through project research are appended.