Economics of sorghum and soil erosion control technologies for small hillside farmers in Southern Honduras
Abstract
A Discrete Stochastic Programming model (DSP) was used to estimate the potential effects of two new agricultural technologies on the income and productivity of small hillside farmers in Southern Honduras. The two technologies analyzed are stone walls and ditches combined with permanent legume trees for erosion control of the hillside lands, and the new sorghum cultivars, Sureno and Catracho, combined with chemical fertilizer and insecticide. The objectives of this study were to estimate the potential impact of these technologies, as well as key resource constraints and government agricultural policies, on the income and productivity of small farmers in the region. The DSP model was based on the results of an economic survey carried out in 1988. Survey results indicated that the representative small farmer of the south is 41 years old with almost no formal education (2.2 years) and a farm size of 2.6 ha. Fifty five percent of the cash income earned by the household comes from off-farm. This income is supplemented with on-farm production of cereal grains, beans, and small farm animals. Model results suggest that the two technologies combined produce moderate income gains of 16 percent, while the CV of income is reduced by 31 percent. Cereal grain and bean production increase 65 percent relative to the situation without the new technologies. When the resource constraints are relaxed and policy variables changed, the potential income and grain production effects are substantially increased. Income gains of 70 percent and reductions in CV of 15 percent are obtained in this case relative to the base farm. As well, expected grain production increases by 100 percent. Several policy alternatives for attaining further income gains from the new technologies by increasing average selling prices of cereals are suggested. The most important of these alternatives are the construction of small storage bins on the farmers' land, or larger storage facilities at a central location in the communities with the grain to be sold through a grain marketing cooperative. The increase of small farm animal production with the increased sorghum grain would also reduce the surplus grain and allow the farmer to market meat products for which demand is rising in Honduras. The main conclusion is that the new soil conservation technologies are profitable and enable more intensive farming systems for these hillside farmers. The new sorghum cultivars would allow the farmers to increase the profitability of their farm once the land has been improved. Substantial income gains for small farmers in the South can be attained with these two technologies and some related policy changes.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Sanders, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Agricultural economics
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