Profitability of maize production in the northern region of Ghana
International Journal of Development Research
Profitability of maize production in the northern region of Ghana
Received 22nd June, 2018; Received in revised form 16th July, 2018; Accepted 19th August, 2018; Published online 30th September, 2018
Copyright © 2018, Isaac Kankam-Boadu et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
On-farm research on profitability of maize (Zea mays, L.) production in the Northern Region of Ghana was conducted in five districts during 2014 and 2015 cropping seasons. Research fields were laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design with 16 treatments and three replications. Treatments consisted of control (T1), synthetic fertilizer treatments alone (T2, T3, T4, T5, T10, T11, T12, and T13), synthetic fertilizers and poultry manure treatments (T6, T7, T8, T9, T14, and T15), and T16 (only Sulphate of Ammonia as topdressing). Combined application of poultry manure and synthetic fertilizer recorded significantly (P<0.05) higher maize grain yields. Application of synthetic fertilizers alone was not financially profitable but application of 187.5 kg of 23-10-05 NPK + 125 kg Sulphate of Ammonia + 4000 kg of poultry manure per hectare resulted in highest profitability ratio of 4.79. Combining poultry manure and synthetic fertilizers will ensure sustainable maize production and environmental sustainability in the Northern region of Ghana.
