Plot size and sustainable input intensification in smallholder irrigated agriculture: Evidence from Egypt
Increasing population pressure and population density in many African countries are inducing land scarcity and land constraints. Tightening land constraints are expected to trigger various responses, including agricultural intensification, as postulated by the Boserup hypothesis. The relevance of th...
| Autores principales: | , , , , |
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| Formato: | Journal Article |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
Wiley
2022
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| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/141223 |
| _version_ | 1855533886278205440 |
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| author | Abay, Kibrom A. Abdelfattah, Lina Alaaeldin El-Enbaby, Hoda Mahmoud, Mai Breisinger, Clemens |
| author_browse | Abay, Kibrom A. Abdelfattah, Lina Alaaeldin Breisinger, Clemens El-Enbaby, Hoda Mahmoud, Mai |
| author_facet | Abay, Kibrom A. Abdelfattah, Lina Alaaeldin El-Enbaby, Hoda Mahmoud, Mai Breisinger, Clemens |
| author_sort | Abay, Kibrom A. |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Increasing population pressure and population density in many African countries are inducing land scarcity and land constraints. Tightening land constraints are expected to trigger various responses, including agricultural intensification, as postulated by the Boserup hypothesis. The relevance of the Boserup hypothesis in irrigated agriculture, and in contexts where application of improved inputs is high, remains largely unexplored. Furthermore, while much of the debate on the topic in Africa has focused on how to boost agricultural intensification, there is scant evidence on whether evolving agricultural intensification practices in some parts of Africa are sustainable. In this article, we investigate the implication of land size (at the plot and farm level) on agricultural intensification. Our analysis sheds light on the relevance of the Boserup hypothesis in the context of Egypt, where irrigation dominates agriculture and input application rates are high relative to global standards. We also examine whether evolving agricultural intensification practices induced by land scarcity are agronomically appropriate. Our findings show that smaller plot and farm sizes are associated with higher application of agricultural inputs, mainly nitrogen fertilizers. Importantly, small plot size is associated with overapplication of nitrogen fertilizer relative to crop-specific agronomic recommendations. In addition, smaller plots are associated with higher rates of labor application and lower rates of mechanization. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace141223 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publishDateRange | 2022 |
| publishDateSort | 2022 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| publisherStr | Wiley |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1412232025-10-26T13:02:30Z Plot size and sustainable input intensification in smallholder irrigated agriculture: Evidence from Egypt Abay, Kibrom A. Abdelfattah, Lina Alaaeldin El-Enbaby, Hoda Mahmoud, Mai Breisinger, Clemens nitrogen fertilizers land scarcity inputs irrigated farming sustainability plot size labour population density intensification land land constraints mechanization farm size Increasing population pressure and population density in many African countries are inducing land scarcity and land constraints. Tightening land constraints are expected to trigger various responses, including agricultural intensification, as postulated by the Boserup hypothesis. The relevance of the Boserup hypothesis in irrigated agriculture, and in contexts where application of improved inputs is high, remains largely unexplored. Furthermore, while much of the debate on the topic in Africa has focused on how to boost agricultural intensification, there is scant evidence on whether evolving agricultural intensification practices in some parts of Africa are sustainable. In this article, we investigate the implication of land size (at the plot and farm level) on agricultural intensification. Our analysis sheds light on the relevance of the Boserup hypothesis in the context of Egypt, where irrigation dominates agriculture and input application rates are high relative to global standards. We also examine whether evolving agricultural intensification practices induced by land scarcity are agronomically appropriate. Our findings show that smaller plot and farm sizes are associated with higher application of agricultural inputs, mainly nitrogen fertilizers. Importantly, small plot size is associated with overapplication of nitrogen fertilizer relative to crop-specific agronomic recommendations. In addition, smaller plots are associated with higher rates of labor application and lower rates of mechanization. 2022-09 2024-04-12T13:37:29Z 2024-04-12T13:37:29Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/141223 en Open Access Wiley Abay, Kibrom A.; Abdelfattah, Lina Alaaeldin; El-Enbaby, Hoda; Mahmoud, Mai; and Breisinger, Clemens. 2022. Plot size and sustainable input intensification in smallholder irrigated agriculture: Evidence from Egypt. Agricultural Economics 53(5): 792-810. https://doi.org/10.1111/agec.12736 |
| spellingShingle | nitrogen fertilizers land scarcity inputs irrigated farming sustainability plot size labour population density intensification land land constraints mechanization farm size Abay, Kibrom A. Abdelfattah, Lina Alaaeldin El-Enbaby, Hoda Mahmoud, Mai Breisinger, Clemens Plot size and sustainable input intensification in smallholder irrigated agriculture: Evidence from Egypt |
| title | Plot size and sustainable input intensification in smallholder irrigated agriculture: Evidence from Egypt |
| title_full | Plot size and sustainable input intensification in smallholder irrigated agriculture: Evidence from Egypt |
| title_fullStr | Plot size and sustainable input intensification in smallholder irrigated agriculture: Evidence from Egypt |
| title_full_unstemmed | Plot size and sustainable input intensification in smallholder irrigated agriculture: Evidence from Egypt |
| title_short | Plot size and sustainable input intensification in smallholder irrigated agriculture: Evidence from Egypt |
| title_sort | plot size and sustainable input intensification in smallholder irrigated agriculture evidence from egypt |
| topic | nitrogen fertilizers land scarcity inputs irrigated farming sustainability plot size labour population density intensification land land constraints mechanization farm size |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/141223 |
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