Getting seed right: Helping farmers adopt hybrid seed

Growth in agricultural production in sub-Saharan African has been slower than population growth, causing an increase in food imports and high rates of undernutrition.It has been difficult for farmers to adopt hybrid seeds and other improved agricultural inputs, such as fertilizer. There is compelling evidence that hybrid seeds can significantly improve agricultural production and reduce its variance, thereby increasing and smoothing farmers’ profit. Thus, farmers’ low adoption rates seem puzzling.

Increasing smallholder farmers’ use of improved agricultural inputs has been a major focus of policy and research. Governments and international organization have spent significant portions of their budgets to subsidize fertilizer, seeds, and other inputs

To establish this finding, DKR designed a program that offers smallholders access to fertilizer at the time of harvest. Since fertilizer is generally available in their local market, during harvest time, farmers are offered free fertilizer delivery at the date specified by the farmer. The subsidy both helps farmers commit to using fertilizer and helps them avoid the future cost of traveling to the market. As a result, smallholders’ propensity to apply fertilizer in the next planting season increases.

“If every plant and flower were found in all places, the charm of locality would not exist. Everything varies, and that gives the interest.”