Download PDF

Economic comparison between Conventional and No-Tillage
farming systems in Morocco
Mohamed Boughlala, O. El Gharras, and R. Dahan
Contributed paper prepared for presentation at the 57th AARES Annual Conference, Sydney, New
South Wales, 5th-8th February, 2013
Copyright 2013 by [authors]. All rights reserved. Readers may make verbatim copies of this
document for non-commercial purposes by any means, provided that this copyright notice appears on all
such copies.
Economic comparison between Conventional and
No-Tillage farming systems in Morocco
Mohamed Boughlala1, O. El Gharras1, and R. Dahan2
1Centre
2Institut
Régional de la Recherche Agronomique de Settat, BP 589, Settat, Maroc
National de la Recherche Agronomique, BP 415, 10000, Avenue la victoire, Rabat, Maroc
Background
The fragile dryland areas in northern Africa are seriously threatened by soil and water degradation. Morocco is a good example where soils with relatively low organic matter
contents (<2%) are directly impacted by the serious erosion processes which can exceed 20 tons ha-1 yr-1. It is estimated that the total annual cost of erosion from agriculture in
Morocco is about 0.41% of its GDP. This deterioration is mainly due to poor soil management through conventional tillage practices. Research on no-tillage system (NT)
conducted in Morocco during the past tow decade showed that with the adoption of this technology farmers can re-build the harmony between soils and crops.
Objective
The objective of this study was to compare the economics of conventional tillage (CT) and NT system on bread wheat at the level of three arid zones of Morocco .
Methodology
A sample of 70 farmers was randomly selected in the three regions concerned by the study. Surveys were conducted in three rural zones, ranging from 240 meters to 350 meters
above sea level. Mixed cereal-livestock farming is the dominant form of livelihood in three zones. 10 farmers were interviewed in Abda region, 50 farmers in Chaouia region and
10 farmers in Zair region. The sample includes in the same time users and no-users of no-till system.
Results
Energy saving
The average farm size for small-scale farmers is 4.8ha. This category of
farmers represents 60.9% of total farmers but have control over only 31% of
total area. The average farm size for medium and large farms is respectively
equal to 13.5 and 21.6 ha. Medium farm size category controls 50.5% of the
area and represents only 25.6% of farmers. Large farmers represent only
13.5% but have control over 18.5% of land.
The calculation of estimated savings in diesel was done only in Chaouia region with a
group of seven farmers that have their own machinery. The estimated saving in diesel fuel
for the NT relative to CV system is 24.75 liter per hectare. According to soil scientists the
suitable area for NT system in Morocco is estimated to 1.5 Million ha, so we can save up to
37126 t. of Diesel annually.
Production costs (US$ ha-1) for bread wheat using conventional and notillage system for large and medium size farms.
Items
Seed cost
Fertilizer
Tillage
Seeding
Herbicide
Fungicide
Custom combining
Hired labor
Family labor
Total
Variation
Zair-Rabat
CV
NT
78
62
100
100
82
0
21
24
25
44
46
46
35
35
7
5
10
8
406
324
-20%
Abda
CV
62
54
87
21
56
61
35
7
12
394
NT
58
59
0
24
56
54
35
6
10
302
-24%
Chaouia
CV
73
84
59
21
25
46
35
8
7
358
NT
58
89
0
24
35
46
35
7
6
300
-16%
Production costs (US$ ha-1) for bread wheat using conventional and notillage system for small farms.
Items
Seed cost
Fertilizer
Tillage
Seeding
Herbicide
Fungicide
Custom combining
Hired labor
Family labor
Total
Variation
Zair-Rabat
CV
NT
82
62
49
100
53
0
0
24
9
44
0
46
35
35
1
5
12
8
243
324
34%
Abda
CV
70
54
69
0
18
0
35
3
13
262
NT
58
59
0
24
56
54
35
6
10
302
15%
Chaouia
CV
82
50
76
0
11
18
35
7
14
293
Conventional system
No-tillage system
Saved energy
Diesel consumption l/ha Diesel cost US$/ha
53,27
45,29
28,52
24,24
24,75
21,06
Adoption of No-till system in Morocco
In Morocco it is still early to talk about the evaluation of the adoption of NT, despite all
the benefits (monitory and no-monitory) of this technology. The raison is that until now
we are still working on the evaluation of the technology and no large scale
dissemination program was conducted in Morocco. At the national level, farmer
adoption of NT technology remains low, covering only about 6,000 ha.
Constraint to adoption of NT system
According to farmers discussion the first constraint to adoption of NT system is
fragmentation of farms and farm holdings. Farmer’s lack of knowledge on how to do
it is also a serious problem. We still have a problem of the adequate NT seeding
machine to recommend to farmers. The INRA prototype could be recommended for
some regions but not for others. Residue management is also a problem especially for
small holders.
NT
58
89
0
24
35
46
35
7
6
300
2%
Bread wheat gross and net benefit in US$ ha-1.
Zair-Rabat
CV
NT
Avr. Yield, t/ha large/medium
2,71 3,46
Avr. Yield, t/ha small farms
1,63 3,46
Gross benefit, US$/ha, large/medium 796 1017
Gross benefit, US$/ha, small farms
479 1017
Net benefit, US$/ha, large/medium
390
693
Net benefit, US$/ha, small farms
237
693
Variation in net benefit, large/medium
78%
Variation in net benefit, small farms
193%
Estimated savings in diesel fuel for NT relative to CV system.
General finding of the study
Abda
CV
NT
2,75 3,25
1,56 3,25
809
956
459
956
415
654
197
654
58%
232%
Chaouia
CV
NT
2,85 3,56
1,71 3,56
838 1047
503 1047
480
747
210
747
56%
256%
The general finding of this study is that bread wheat production in the no-tillage system
is more profitable than in the conventional tillage system. Results for smallholders
show an increase in bread wheat production costs in all regions when moving to NT
system. The main raison for this is that in order to better manage the risks related to
high climate variability and uncertainty, smallholder tend to minimize their production
costs by using less input. This behavior is not possible when it comes to NT and if we
drop a component of this system, like weed control for example, all the system fall
down.