Title: Revisiting innovation practices in subsistence farming: the net effects of land management, pesticide, herbicide and fungicide practices on expected crop harvest in Ethiopia

Authors: Adah-Kole Emmanuel Onjewu; Vahid Jafari-Sadeghi; Sundas Hussain

Addresses: Wolverhampton Business School, University of Wolverhampton, UK ' Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University, UK ' Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University, UK

Abstract: To settle inconsistent findings in the farming innovation and productivity nexus, this inquiry examines the land management practices of 7,625 households in rural Ethiopia. Specifically, the net effects of: 1) improved seeds; 2) mixed cropping; 3) row planting on the use of; 4) pesticides; 5) herbicides; 6) fungicides are assessed. Using a structural equation technique, the study probes how these six practices predict households' expected harvest. It is found that while improved seeds increase pesticide, herbicide and fungicide use, mixed cropping and row planting generally reduce these practices. Moreover, mixed cropping moderately increases expected harvest while improved seeds and row planting have the reverse effect. The interrelations of these factors increase knowledge in contingency-driven agronomics, and provoke reflection on the sustainability of land management practices. Particularly, opposed to prevailing views, it is demonstrated that sowing traditional seeds will reduce households' reliance on pesticides, herbicides and fungicides. The inherent findings speak to policy-makers tasked with supporting peasant life in rural Ethiopia and similar contexts.

Keywords: improved seeds; mixed cropping; row planting; pesticides; herbicides; fungicides; expected harvest; farming innovation; subsistence farming; structural equation modelling; Ethiopia.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTLID.2022.121477

International Journal of Technological Learning, Innovation and Development, 2022 Vol.14 No.1/2, pp.23 - 51

Received: 01 Apr 2021
Accepted: 11 Sep 2021
Published online: 15 Mar 2022 *