Impact of Adoption of Push-pull Technologies on Smallholder Maize Farmer’s Productivity in Eastern Rwanda

Abstract

The push-pull technology (PPT) as an alternative to conventional pesticide use in the control of fall armyworm (FAW) and stemborer pests in maize production has received considerable attention in the recent past. However, the impact of adoption of PPT on the productivity of smallholder maize farmers in Eastern Rwanda where the technology was introduced in 2017 remains largely unknown. This study assessed the intensity of adoption of PPT in Nyagatare and Gatsibo districts of Rwanda using a fractional logit model (FLM) and evaluated the impact of adoption of PPT on maize productivity using a multinomial endogenous switching regression (MESR). The study applied a 2019 survey data from a sample of 398 households operating 967 maize plots selected using a stratified random sampling technique. The results of the fractional logit model revealed that while only 5 percent of the maize farmers had adopted the technology, on average, farmers practiced PPT on 26 percent of their maize plots. The results of the Fractional Logit Model (FLM) showed that the perceived PPT benefits, perceived PPT effectiveness in control of pests, livestock ownership, gender and group membership had positive significant influence on the intensity of adoption of PPT in Rwanda. Overall, 25, 20, and 14 percent of the households adopted traditional, PPT and pesticides respectively in the control of stemborer and fall army worms. In addition, 8 and 7 percent of the households adopted a combination of pesticides and traditional, and a mix of PPT and traditional practices respectively. The results of the MESR model revealed that perceived cost of technology, perceived technology effectiveness, wealth status, perceived pest severity, perceived soil fertility and group membership significantly influenced the adoption of pest control practices in the Eastern Rwanda. Furthermore, the MESR results revealed that adopting PPT and its combinations had a significant positive impact on maize yields while using recommends investment in awareness creation to improve farmers understanding on the perceived PPT benefits while using group methods (such as farmer-farmer, farmer field schools, demonstrations etc) that are gender disaggregated to enhance adoption of push-pull technologies. The study also recommended promotion of push-pull technology as a low cost pest control management practices in controlling FAW and stemborer pests in maize to improve agricultural productivity.