An Integrated On-Farm Experiment And Survey Approach To Maize And Groundnut Constraint Analysis In Zimbabwe

On-farm trials conducted in Zimbabwe communal areas (peasant sector) have demonstrated the existence of a yield gap between potential farm yields and those achieved by farmers. This study utilizes the experimental and survey approach to quantify the size of the maize and groundnut yield gaps at the farm level and evaluates the economic returns associated with the yield increasing technologies. Three major conclusions drawn from the study are: First, the diagnostic survey and the yield gap package approach substituted for each other in identifying technical constraints for designing on-farm trails. Second, the magnitude of the yield gap alone could not be used to justify the initiation of a groundnut trial program versus maize, since costs of recovering the gap were higher in the former crop than the latter. Third, sensitivity analysis models showed that either the groundnut price must rise by 43 percent or the yield from the improved package must increase by 26 percent to make this crop as profitable as maize. Alternatively, introducing a herbicide in groundnut production would only require an increase in groundnut price and yield of 16 percent and 10 percent respectively.