175
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
B. R. Singh et al. (eds.), Climate Impacts on Agricultural and Natural Resource
Sustainability in Africa, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37537-9_10
Yield and Profitability of Cotton Grown
Under Smallholder Organic
and Conventional Cotton Farming Systems
in Meatu District, Tanzania
T. N. Bwana, Nyambilila A. Amuri, E. Semu, J. E. Olesen, A. Henningsen,
M. R. Baha, and J. Hella
Abstract Agronomic practices have a large effect on the yield and profitability of
low-input smallholder cotton farming in Africa. A two-season field experiment was
conducted in a semi-arid cotton growing area in Meatu District, Tanzania, to compare the yield and profitability of various conventional and organic cotton production practices. Besides the currently applied low-input conventional and organic
cotton production practices, higher-input and innovative farming practices as well
as control treatments (without fertiliser or pesticides) were tested. While season 1
had weather conditions that were very suitable for cotton production, much less
AH, NAA and JEO formulated the general research question and initiated the research project;
TNB, NAA, ES and JEO formulated the specific research questions and designed the field experiment; TNB, supervised by NAA, ES, and JEO, conducted the field experiment and collected the
data; TNB and AH conducted the economic analysis; AH conducted the statistical analysis; JH and
MRB provided information about economics and politics of cotton production in Tanzania; TNB
drafted the chapter and AH added and rewrote some paragraphs. All authors contributed to the
revision of the chapter.
T. N. Bwana · N. A. Amuri (*) · E. Semu
Department of Soil and Geological Sciences, Sokoine University of Agriculture,
Morogoro, Tanzania
e-mail: namuri@sua.ac.tz
J. E. Olesen
Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University, Tjele, Denmark
A. Henningsen
Department of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen,
Copenhagen, Denmark
M. R. Baha
Department of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen,
Copenhagen, Denmark
Department of Food and Resource Economics, Sokoine University of Agriculture,
Morogoro, Tanzania
J. Hella
Department of Food and Resource Economics, Sokoine University of Agriculture,
Morogoro, Tanzania
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
B. R. Singh et al. (eds.), Climate Impacts on Agricultural and Natural Resource
Sustainability in Africa, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37537-9_10
Yield and Profitability of Cotton Grown
Under Smallholder Organic
and Conventional Cotton Farming Systems
in Meatu District, Tanzania
T. N. Bwana, Nyambilila A. Amuri, E. Semu, J. E. Olesen, A. Henningsen,
M. R. Baha, and J. Hella
Abstract Agronomic practices have a large effect on the yield and profitability of
low-input smallholder cotton farming in Africa. A two-season field experiment was
conducted in a semi-arid cotton growing area in Meatu District, Tanzania, to compare the yield and profitability of various conventional and organic cotton production practices. Besides the currently applied low-input conventional and organic
cotton production practices, higher-input and innovative farming practices as well
as control treatments (without fertiliser or pesticides) were tested. While season 1
had weather conditions that were very suitable for cotton production, much less
AH, NAA and JEO formulated the general research question and initiated the research project;
TNB, NAA, ES and JEO formulated the specific research questions and designed the field experiment; TNB, supervised by NAA, ES, and JEO, conducted the field experiment and collected the
data; TNB and AH conducted the economic analysis; AH conducted the statistical analysis; JH and
MRB provided information about economics and politics of cotton production in Tanzania; TNB
drafted the chapter and AH added and rewrote some paragraphs. All authors contributed to the
revision of the chapter.
T. N. Bwana · N. A. Amuri (*) · E. Semu
Department of Soil and Geological Sciences, Sokoine University of Agriculture,
Morogoro, Tanzania
e-mail: namuri@sua.ac.tz
J. E. Olesen
Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University, Tjele, Denmark
A. Henningsen
Department of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen,
Copenhagen, Denmark
M. R. Baha
Department of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen,
Copenhagen, Denmark
Department of Food and Resource Economics, Sokoine University of Agriculture,
Morogoro, Tanzania
J. Hella
Department of Food and Resource Economics, Sokoine University of Agriculture,
Morogoro, Tanzania