Abstract

Makinde, E. A. , Saka, J. O. and Makinde, J. O

This study was carried out to determine the economic viability of fertility management options in cassava based cropping systems. Data were obtained from an on-station agronomic trial carried out in 1995 and 1996 in the rainforest agro-ecological zone of south western Nigeria. Economic evaluation was carried out using partial budget and Marginal Rate of Return (MRR) Analyses. The result showed that higher net returns were obtained from inorganic fertilizer (N 285,748 in 1995 and N259,569 in 1996) followed by inorganic fertilizer + Soybean + soybean residue (N274,826 in 1995 and N255,413 in 1996). However, the result of the MRR analysis indicated that farmers stand to gain better if they change from no fertilizer control to either organic fertilizer (278%) or further to inorganic fertilizer with a MRR of 1255% respectively. Similar result was obtained in 1996 with organic fertilizer (494%) and inorganic fertilizer (1115%). However, considering the problem of scarcity often associated with inorganic fertilizer, the choice of organic fertilizer is more likely to be accepted by the farmers.