Adoption assessment of improved maize seed by farmers in Benin Republic

Abstract

To contribute to the improvement of productivity of maize, new improved maize seeds have been introduced in various areas favourable to the maize production of Benin. This paper assessed the adoption potentials of the different improved varieties of maize introduced into the maize-growing areas of Benin Republic. The study was carried out in the maize agro-ecological areas of Benin Republic. An exhaustive census was carried out in each village of farmers. This made it possible to have a list of all the farmers by village. Sampling of the farmers was done in a random way in each village of production to have a total of 490 farmers. The average treatment effect (ATE) was used to determine adoption rates and gaps related to maize seed adoption in the studied area. The results showed that from 84% of farmers in the sample who had knowledge of improved maize seeds, 78% of the farmers adopted the improved seed. Each of the four varieties, taken separately, provides the following adoption rates: 16% for the DMR-ESRW, 25% for the EVDT97 STRW, 19% for the TZPB-SR and 15% for the FAABA / QPM. The results also show that the variables “literacy”, “relationship with structures/institutions”, “maize land area in 2013” and “Annual income coming from maize production” are the factors that determined the adoption of improved maize seed in the studied area.