Adoption of fertiliser and hybrid seeds by smallholder maize farmers in Southern Malawi

Despite decades of agricultural policies that promoted the adoption of fertiliser and hybrid seed technologies as ways of improving productivity in maize farming, smallholder farmers in Malawi have been relatively slow to adopt the new technology. Using bivariate probit analysis and controlling for technology acquisition through grants, we found that fertiliser adoption was positively associated with higher levels of education, larger plot sizes and higher non-farm incomes, but negatively associated with households headed by women and distance from input markets. The adoption of hybrid seeds is positively associated with market-based land tenure systems and fertile soils, but negatively associated with age of the farmer and distance from input markets.

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