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Journal of Plant Sciences

Year: 2007 | Volume: 2 | Issue: 1 | Page No.: 68-74
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Authors

G.K.S. Aflakpui

F.K. Boa-Amponsem

V.M. Anchirinah

S. Osei-Yeboah

Grace E-K. Bolfrey-Arku

P. Osei-Bonsu

H. Asumadu

P.B. Allou

P.K. Akowuah

Asare Baffour

J.A. Manu-Aduening

Keywords

No-till demonstrations were carried out on farmers` fields in the forest, transition and coastal savannah zones of Ghana from 1997 to 2003. The purpose was to create awareness among farmers of the benefits of intensifying crop production on a piece of land by (i) eliminating burning (ii) increasing organic matter on the soil surface (iii) reducing or eliminating cultivation that destroys the soil structure and (iv) using herbicides to help reduce hand labour and save time for other operations. The no-till plots recorded greater maize yield (58-82%) than the farmers` practice in all cases. Maize yield in the forest and transition zones was greatest for PRE application of alachlor+atrazine. Post application of alachlor+atrazine resulted in smaller maize yield. Economic analysis of the yield gave marginal rate of return of 733% for the forest, 301% for the transition and 112% for the coastal savannah for PRE applied alachlor+atrazine. The corresponding values for Post applied alachlor+atrazine were 287% for the forest and 124% for the transition. The no-till demonstrations have shown that (i) there is nothing to be gained by continually relying on the traditional slash and burn systems and (ii) the time of applying alachlor+atrazine is critical to maximise yield. The results indicate that farmers can get better returns to the money invested in herbicides for producing maize under no-till than with their traditional practice.
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How to cite this article

G.K.S. Aflakpui, F.K. Boa-Amponsem, V.M. Anchirinah, S. Osei-Yeboah, Grace E-K. Bolfrey-Arku, P. Osei-Bonsu, H. Asumadu, P.B. Allou, P.K. Akowuah, Asare Baffour and J.A. Manu-Aduening, 2007. Sustaining Crop Production Through Conservation Tillage in Ghana. Journal of Plant Sciences, 2: 68-74.

DOI: 10.3923/jps.2007.68.74

URL: https://scialert.net/abstract/?doi=jps.2007.68.74

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