Adoption of Fertiliser Technology and Intensity of Use among Smallholder Maize and Pigeon Pea Farmers in Babati District, Tanzania

Abstract

Smallholder farmers play a crucial role in agricultural production and food security, with maize and pigeon peas being among the main crops cultivated in Babati District, Tanzania. Despite the importance of agricultural activity in the district, farming is characterised by low productivity due to depleted soil fertility, reliance on rain-fed agriculture, and limited use of productivity-enhancing technologies such as fertiliser. Although fertiliser is widely recognised as a key input for improving crop yields, there is limited empirical evidence on fertiliser adoption and use intensity in the study area. Using cross-sectional survey data collected from 130 maize and pigeon pea farmers, this study employed a double-hurdle model to simultaneously estimate the determinants of inorganic fertiliser adoption and its use intensity. The result indicates that the adoption rate of inorganic fertiliser is 32.4%. Moreover, the findings showed that the adoption of fertiliser technology was positively influenced by factors including the education level of the household head, household size, extension services, access to input credit, being a member of a farmer-based organisation (FBO), the number of livestock measured in tropical livestock units owned by the farming household, and farm income in the previous season. However, the perceived selling price of fertiliser negatively influenced fertiliser adoption. Extension services, credit access, FBO membership, number of livestock, and farm income from the previous season positively influenced fertiliser use intensity, with statistically significant effects, while the perceived selling price constrains the intensity of fertiliser use. The study recommends improving access to farm credit through a targeted and time-bound input credit guarantee scheme and a subsidy program focused on fertiliser for liquidity-constrained smallholder farmers. Additionally, the government should promote and strengthen FBO to enhance collective access to farm inputs and leverage digital platforms to deliver targeted extension services that provide timely information to enhance the adoption of agricultural technology.