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Fertilizer Adoption by Smallholders in the Brazilian Amazon: Farm-level Evidence

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  • Morello, Thiago Fonseca
  • Piketty, Marie-Gabrielle
  • Gardner, Toby
  • Parry, Luke
  • Barlow, Jos
  • Ferreira, Joice
  • Tancredi, Nicola S.

Abstract

Multiple constraints prevent smallholders from adopting fertilizers even with regional supply of agricultural inputs expanding and soils being weared-out. Using comprehensive farm-level data from the eastern Brazilian Amazon, we found that market proximity had a significant positive correlation with fertilizer adoption, even after controlling for liquidity, land tenure, education, experience and access to rural extension services. Nevertheless, few smallholders completely replaced nutrients from vegetation with fertilizers. Instead, we found that a hybrid system that combines nutrients from vegetation and fertilizers was approximately twice as common as exclusive fertilizer use. We suggest that the option for this diversified “nutrient portfolio” may result not only from a lack of capital or knowledge regarding return on fertilizer use, but also from the need to adapt to the economic constraints facing smallholders and minimize risk. Results indicate that a rural extension program aimed at supporting a rapid and complete replacement of ashes from vegetation by fertilizers could prove unsuccessful for Amazonian smallholders.

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  • Morello, Thiago Fonseca & Piketty, Marie-Gabrielle & Gardner, Toby & Parry, Luke & Barlow, Jos & Ferreira, Joice & Tancredi, Nicola S., 2018. "Fertilizer Adoption by Smallholders in the Brazilian Amazon: Farm-level Evidence," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 278-291.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:144:y:2018:i:c:p:278-291
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2017.08.010
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    2. Lin, Yang & Hu, Ruifa & Zhang, Chao & Chen, Kevin, 2022. "The role of public agricultural extension services in driving fertilizer use in rice production in China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    3. Xiaoyan Yi & Qinqi Zou & Zewei Zhang & Sheng-Han-Erin Chang, 2023. "What Motivates Greenhouse Vegetable Farmers to Adapt Organic-Substitute-Chemical-Fertilizer (OSCF)? An Empirical Study from Shandong, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-14, January.
    4. Oyinbo, Oyakhilomen & Chamberlin, Jordan & Vanlauwe, Bernard & Vranken, Liesbet & Kamara, Alpha & Craufurd, Peter & Maertens, Miet, 2018. "Farmers' preferences for site-specific extension services: Evidence from a choice experiment in Nigeria," Working Papers 276175, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Centre for Agricultural and Food Economics.
    5. Wen Xiang & Jianzhong Gao, 2023. "From Agricultural Green Production to Farmers’ Happiness: A Case Study of Kiwi Growers in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-25, February.
    6. Akter, Shaheen & Gathala, Mahesh K. & Timsina, Jagadish & Islam, Saiful & Rahman, Mahbubur & Hassan, Mustafa Kamrul & Ghosh, Anup Kumar, 2021. "Adoption of conservation agriculture-based tillage practices in the rice-maize systems in Bangladesh," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 21(C).
    7. Fonseca Morello, Thiago, 2023. "Hospitalization due to fire-induced pollution in the Brazilian Amazon: A causal inference analysis with an assessment of policy trade-offs," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    8. Oyinbo, Oyakhilomen & Chamberlin, Jordan & Vanlauwe, Bernard & Vranken, Liesbet & Kamara, Yaya Alpha & Craufurd, Peter & Maertens, Miet, 2019. "Farmers' preferences for high-input agriculture supported by site-specific extension services: Evidence from a choice experiment in Nigeria," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 12-26.

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