Economic Analysis of Sorghum Production under Conservation Agriculture and Conventional Farming Systems in small-scale Farms in Rainfed Areas Southern Gedarif State, Sudan

Abstract

A project was conducted in rainfed areas southern Gedarif State, to improve sorghum productivity of small-scale farmers. The project implemented conservation agriculture (CA) in 2.1 hectares for each participated small-scale farmer during the period from 2014 to 2017. The objective of this study was to conduct economic analysis for sorghum production under conventional farming (CF) and conservation agriculture (CA). Data on production costs, yield and income of sorghum by using CA and CF systems were collected through questionnaire from small-scale farmers participated in the project for three consecutive seasons (2014 to 2016). Sixty farmers out of 150 farmers (40%) participated in the project for the three seasons were randomly interviewed, and economic indicators were used. The results showed that CA gave higher sorghum grain yield (1797 kg/ha) compared to CF (881kg/ha). Also, the total production cost was higher for CA (3963 SDG/ha) compared to the total production cost of CF (2020 SDG/ha). The costs of inputs and operations constituted the highest share of CA total cost. In addition, CA gave higher gross return (4035 SDG/ha) compared to the CF (2192.3 SDG/ha). The profit in the first two seasons was comparable for both cropping systems. The average breakeven point (BEP) was 1920 kg/ha and 971 kg/ha for CA and CF, respectively. Sensitivity analysis revealed that increasing sorghum yield by 20% the BEP decreased by 1%, whereas increasing sorghum price by 20% the BEP decreased by 16%. The sensitivity analysis revealed that net return and BEP were affected by changes in production cost and sorghum price. Moreover, CA had many positive residual effects on the performance of the crops grown in the subsequent seasons. In conclusion, CA has instantaneous and future positive impacts on small-scale farmers’ livelihood and production sustainability; but it is necessary to reduce its cost.