Rice Yield and Levels of Agrochemical Use in Ghana: A Dose-Response
Function Approach
Abstract
The study assesses rice yield response to levels of agrochemical use in
Ghana. We employed the Dose-Response Model Approach under continuous and
heterogeneous responses to treatment. The dose-response model of rice
yield with chemical fertilizer treatment indicates that averagely,
chemical fertilizer use is associated with a 10% kilograms per hectare
surge in rice yield. This upsurge in rice yield subsequently reduces and
turns out to be immaterial as chemical fertilizer quantities move from
20% to 70% and afterwards increases. On the other hand, the
dose-response function of rice yield with herbicides treatment shows
that, averagely, herbicide use is related to a 7% kg/ha rise in rice
yield. This increase in rice yield reduces substantially as herbicides
volumes move from 40% to 100%. It can be concluded that rice yield
responds to an increase in the intensity of use of chemical fertilizer
but not herbicides. The implication is that even though the Green
Revolution agricultural technologies were meant to be adopted as a
package, their right mix in terms of levels or intensity is also
critical.