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    Reconciling yield gains in agronomic trials with returns under African smallholder conditions

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    Journal Article (1.301Mb)
    Date
    2020
    Author
    Laajaj, R.
    Macours, K.
    Masso, C.
    Thuita, M.
    Vanlauwe, B.
    Type
    Journal Article
    Review Status
    Peer Review
    Target Audience
    Scientists
    Metadata
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    Abstract/Description
    Increased adoption of improved agricultural technologies is considered an essential step to address global poverty and hunger, and agronomic trials suggest intensification in developing countries could result in large yield gains. Yet the promise of new technologies does not always carry over from trials to real-life conditions, and diffusion of many technologies remains limited. We show how parcel and farmer selection, together with behavioural responses in agronomic trials, can explain why yield gain estimates from trials may differ from the yield gains of smallholders using the same inputs under real-life conditions. We provide quantitative evidence by exploiting variation in farmer selection and detailed data collection from research trials in Western Kenya on which large yield increments were observed from improved input packages for maize and soybean. After adjusting for selection, behavioural responses, and other corrections, estimates of yield gains fall to being not significantly different from zero for the input package tested on one of the crops (soybean), but remain high for the other (maize). These results suggest that testing new agricultural technologies in real-world conditions and without researcher interference early in the agricultural research and development process might help with identifying which innovations are more likely to be taken up at scale.
    https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-71155-y
    Multi standard citation
    Permanent link to this item
    https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12478/7292
    IITA Authors ORCID
    Cargele Massohttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-3980-6832
    Moses Thuitahttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-6731-9492
    bernard vanlauwehttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6016-6027
    Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
    https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-71155-y
    Research Themes
    Natural Resource Management
    IITA Subjects
    Agronomy; Crop Systems; Grain Legumes; Maize; Plant Breeding; Plant Production; Smallholder Farmers; Soybean
    Agrovoc Terms
    Yields; Agronomy; Smallholders; Agricultural Development; Maize; Soybeans; Intercropping
    Regions
    Africa; East Africa
    Countries
    Kenya
    Hubs
    Central Africa Hub
    Journals
    Scientific Reports
    Collections
    • Journal and Journal Articles4835
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