Economic analysis of on-farm adaptive research trials for rice-maize intercrops in the Guinea Savannah: Case study of Kwara State, Nigeria

Maize and rice are two important cereals that have been identified by the Food and Agricultural Organisation as crops capable of remedying food insecurity situations in the developing nations, especially in sub-saharan Africa. However, rice and sometimes maize are usually cultivated as sole crops. Though monocropping results in high outputs, the greatest disadvantage of sole cropping is that in instances of pest or disease outbreaks that attacks the sole crop, the farmer usually looses a significant part of his crops and sometimes even looses all his crops. The crop mixture/intercrop form of producing crops is therefore preferred by farmers, as it insures them against total crop losses. However, producing crops under different mixed cropping conditions will definitely have impact on resource use and consequently crops' yields. This study therefore evaluated an on-farm adaptive research trial for the rice-maize intercrops in Kwara state, Nigeria. This was with a view to formulating a profitable intercrop farming practice for these crops. Data for the study were sourced from four treatments of maize-rice intercrops in each of the four ecological zones (A-D) of the Kwara state Agricultural Development Project (KWADP). The four maize-rice treatments were Faro 43 rice-maize at 90 x 80 cm and one plant/stand seed rate as the control (T), Faro 43 rice-maize at 90 x 40 cm and one plant/stand seed rate (T 2), Faro 43 rice-maize at 90 x 50 cm and two plants/stand seed rate (T(3)) and Faro 43 rice-maize at 90 x 40 cm and two plants/stand seed rate (T(4)) The control treatment is the prevalent rice-maize intercrop practice in the study area. The partial budget and marginal rate of return analyses were used in determining the profitability of each treatment. The partial budget result indicated that treatment 3 (T(3)) has the highest average net benefit within and across the KWADP ecological zones. Also the marginal rate of returns showed that treatments 3 has the highest marginal rate of return within and across the zones. The study therefore recommends treatment 3 to farmers in the savannah zones of Nigeria.