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Profitability of Alley Farming with and without Fallow in Southwest Nigeria

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 October 2008

M. A. Jabbar
Affiliation:
International Livestock Centre for Africa, Humid Zone Programme, PMB 5320, Ibadan, Nigeria
A. Larbi
Affiliation:
International Livestock Centre for Africa, Humid Zone Programme, PMB 5320, Ibadan, Nigeria
L. Reynolds
Affiliation:
International Livestock Centre for Africa, Humid Zone Programme, PMB 5320, Ibadan, Nigeria

Summary

The profitabilities of three land use systems in the humid zone of southwest Nigeria are compared using a capital budgeting procedure combining on-station and on-farm experimental data. The systems are: non-alley farming with fallow; alley farming with fallow; and continuous alley farming. The results indicate that: continuous alley cropping is more profitable than non-alley or alley cropping with fallow; short fallowing in alley cropping reduces the rate of mining soil fertility and thus helps preserve future productivity; alley farming with small ruminants enhances the profitability of alley systems and increases their advantage over the non-alley system; and alley systems remain profitable even when terminal clearing costs are internalized in the current project cycle.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

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