Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-gtxcr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-20T05:31:26.085Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

DIVERSITY IN SMALLHOLDER CITRUS ORCHARDS AND CULTIVATION BOTTLENECKS: RESEARCH AVENUES FOR IMPROVED PRODUCTION IN BENIN, WEST AFRICA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 September 2017

FÉLICIEN AKOHOUE ,
ALCADE C. SEGNON  and
ENOCH G. ACHIGAN-DAKO
FÉLICIEN AKOHOUE
Affiliation:
Horticulture and Genetics Unit, Faculty of Agronomic Sciences, University of Abomey-Calavi, 01 BP 526, Cotonou, Republic of Benin
ALCADE C. SEGNON*
Affiliation:
Horticulture and Genetics Unit, Faculty of Agronomic Sciences, University of Abomey-Calavi, 01 BP 526, Cotonou, Republic of Benin
ENOCH G. ACHIGAN-DAKO
Affiliation:
Horticulture and Genetics Unit, Faculty of Agronomic Sciences, University of Abomey-Calavi, 01 BP 526, Cotonou, Republic of Benin
*
‡Corresponding author. Email: alcadese@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Despite tremendous efforts made in agricultural sectors in sub-Saharan Africa in the last two decades, fruits production and consumption to reduce malnutrition and chronic diseases remain low and have received less attention. Moreover, our knowledge of the current production situation and options for improvement are still limited. In this study, we investigated citrus farming systems and production bottlenecks to identify leverage points for intensification of smallholder citrus farming systems in Benin. We provided a typology of citrus orchards based on 17 quantitative and qualitative variables using Factor Analysis of Mixed Data combined with Hierarchical Cluster Analysis. The typology revealed four categories of citrus farms based on biophysical resources, socioeconomic resources and system management practices. Categories 1 and 2 included farms characterised by less diversified cropping systems with non-recommended management practices. Orchard categories 3 and 4 included farms with high varietal diversity and improved management practices. However, farmers of category 4 neglected staking and digging practices. The inadequate farming practices explained some of the production bottlenecks, which were orchard-type dependent. We discussed the implications of our findings and suggested a number of policy and strategic decisions as well as research and development actions for improving citrus production in Benin.

Type
Research Article
Information
Experimental Agriculture , Volume 54 , Issue 5 , October 2018 , pp. 641 - 654
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Agustí, M., Mesejo, C., Reig, C. and Martínez-Fuentes, A. (2014). Citrus production. In Horticulture: Plants for People and Places, Volume 1: Production Horticulture, 159–195 (Eds Dixon, R. G. and Aldous, E. D.). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.Google Scholar
Bongers, G., Fleskens, L., Van De Ven, G., Mukasa, D., Giller, K. E. N. and Van Asten, P. (2015). Diversity in smallholder farms growing coffee and their use of recommended coffee management practices in Uganda. Experimental Agriculture 51 (4):594–614.Google Scholar
Brentu, F. C., Oduro, K. A., Offei, S. K., Odamtten, G. T., Vicent, A., Peres, N. A. and Timmer, L. W. (2012). Crop loss, aetiology, and epidemiology of citrus black spot in Ghana. European Journal of Plant Pathology 133 (3): 657–670.Google Scholar
Clarke, K. R. (1993). Non-parametric multivariate analyses of changes in community structure. Australian Journal of Ecology 18 (1):117–143.Google Scholar
Collier, P. and Dercon, S. (2014). African agriculture in 50 years: Smallholders in a rapidly changing world? World Development 63:92–101.Google Scholar
Dorji, K., Lakey, L., Chophel, S., Dorji, S. D. and Tamang, B. (2016). Adoption of improved citrus orchard management practices: A micro study from Drujegang growers, Dagana, Bhutan. Agriculture & Food Security 5 (1): 1–8.Google Scholar
Ganry, J. (2014). Promoting fruit and vegetables for nutrition and health, a major challenge for developing countries. Acta Horticulturae 1021:59–65.Google Scholar
García-Tejero, I., Romero-Vicente, R., Jiménez-Bocanegra, J. A., Martínez-García, G., Durán-Zuazo, V. H. and Muriel-Fernández, J. L. (2010). Response of citrus trees to deficit irrigation during different phenological periods in relation to yield, fruit quality, and water productivity. Agricultural Water Management 97 (5):689–699.Google Scholar
Giller, K. E. (2013). Can we define the term ‘farming systems’? A question of scale. Outlook on Agriculture 42 (3):149–153.Google Scholar
Gnimadi, A. (2008). Etude pour l'indentification des filières agroindustrielles prioritaires (Benin). In Programme de Restructuration et de Mise à Niveau de l'Industrie des Etats membres de l'UEMOA (PRMN), (Ed UEMOA). Ouagadougou: Commission de l'UEMOA, 118.Google Scholar
Gómez, M. I., Barrett, C. B., Raney, T., Pinstrup-Andersen, P., Meerman, J., Croppenstedt, A., Carisma, B. and Thompson, B. (2013). Post-green revolution food systems and the triple burden of malnutrition. Food Policy 42:129–138.Google Scholar
Gower, J. C. (1971). A general coefficient of similarity and some of its properties. Biometrics 27 (4):857–871.Google Scholar
Howard, N. (2012). Protecting children from trafficking in Benin: In need of politics and participation. Development in Practice 22 (4):460–472.Google Scholar
Jayne, T. S. and Rashid, S. (2013). Input subsidy programs in sub-Saharan Africa: A synthesis of recent evidence. Agricultural Economics 44 (6):547–562.Google Scholar
Lê, S., Josse, J. and Husson, F. (2008). FactoMineR: An R package for multivariate analysis. Journal of Statistical Software 25 (1):1–18.Google Scholar
Lokossou, B., Tossou, C., Vernière, C. and Ollitrault, P. (2009). Mission D'évaluation de L'agrumiculture au Bénin: Du 28 Septembre au 9 octobre 2009. Cotonou: INRAB, 51.Google Scholar
Luan, Y., Cui, X. and Ferrat, M. (2013). Historical trends of food self-sufficiency in Africa. Food Security 5 (3):393–405.Google Scholar
Pacini, G. C., Colucci, D., Baudron, F., Righi, E., Corbeels, M., Tittonell, P. and Stefanini, F. M. (2014). Combining multi-dimensional scaling and cluster analysis to describe the diversity of rural households. Experimental Agriculture 50 (3):376–397.Google Scholar
Praloran, J. C. (1972). L'agrumiculture Dahoméenne. Situation Actuelle, Amélioration et Développement. Paris, France: GERDAT-IFAC, 103.Google Scholar
Pretty, J. and Bharucha, Z. P. (2014). Sustainable intensification in agricultural systems. Annals of Botany 114 (8):1571–1596.Google Scholar
Pretty, J., Toulmin, C. and Williams, S. (2011). Sustainable intensification in African agriculture. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability 9 (1): 5–24.Google Scholar
Qin, W., Assinck, F. B. T., Heinen, M. and Oenema, O. (2016). Water and nitrogen use efficiencies in citrus production: A meta-analysis. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 222:103–111.Google Scholar
R Core Team (2015). R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. Vienna, Austria: R Foundation for Statistical Computing.Google Scholar
Röling, N., Jiggins, J., Hounkonnou, D. and van Huis, A. (2014). Agricultural research – from recommendation domains to arenas for interaction: Experiences from West Africa. Outlook on Agriculture 43 (3):179–185.Google Scholar
Sanchez, P. A., Denning, G. L. and Nziguheba, G. (2009). The African Green Revolution moves forward. Food Security 1 (1):37–44.Google Scholar
Tossou, C. C., Floquet, A. B. and Sinsin, B. A. (2012). Relation entre la production et la consommation des fruits cultivés sur le plateau d'Allada au sud du Benin. Fruits 67 (01):3–12.Google Scholar
Umeh, V. C., Garcia, L. E. and De Meyer, M. (2008). Fruit flies of sweet oranges in Nigeria: Species diversity, relative abundance and spread in major producing areas. Fruits 63 (3):145–153.Google Scholar
Umeh, V. C., Olaniyan, A. A., Ker, J. and Andir, J. (2004). Development of citrus fruit fly control strategies for small-holders in Nigeria. Fruits 59 (04):265–274.Google Scholar
Vayssières, J.-F., Korie, S., Coulibaly, O., Van Melle, C., Temple, L. and Arinloye, D. (2009). The mango tree in central and northern Benin: Damage caused by fruit flies (Diptera Tephritidae) and computation of economic injury level. Fruits 64 (04):207–220.Google Scholar
Zossou, E., Van Mele, P., Vodouhe, S. D. and Wanvoeke, J. (2009a). Comparing farmer-to-farmer video with workshops to train rural women in improved rice parboiling in central Benin. The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension 15 (4):329–339.Google Scholar
Zossou, E., Van Mele, P., Vodouhe, S. D. and Wanvoeke, J. (2009b). The power of video to trigger innovation: Rice processing in central Benin. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability 7 (2):119–129.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Akohoue et al supplementary material

Figure S1 and Table S1

Download Akohoue et al supplementary material(File)
File 3.6 MB