LOESS Analysis Of Plowing Charges And Acreage Plowed In The Agro-Ecological Zones Of Ghana

Abstract The plowing charges of farm tractor-hire service enterprises sometimes influence the acreage plowed. This study was to explore the relationship between farm acreage plowed and the plowing service charges of farm tractor-hire service enterprises and also assess the effect of changes in plowing charges of farm tractor-hire service providers on the acreage plowed for smallholder farmers in four agro-ecological zones the coastal savannah deciduous forest transitional and guinea savannah of Ghana using a locally weighted regression LOESS. A total of 120 tractor-hire service providers who plowed for smallholder farmers over the period of 2008 and 2011 were randomly sampled across the four agro-ecological zones and interviewed. The results showed that the relation between the farm acreage plowed and the plowing service charges varied from one agro-ecological zone to the other and the average maximum acreage plowed per service provider was found to be in the neighborhood of 270 acres at average rate of GH29 per acre in the Coastal Savannah Zone 850 acres at average rate of GH28 per acre in the Deciduous Forest Zone 650 acres at average rate of GH25 per acre in the Transitional Zone and 450 acres at average rate of GH24 per acre in the Guinea Savannah Zone. The overall outcome of this study would assist the tractor-hire service providers policy makers and agricultural extension agents to know the suitable average plowing charges that a lot of the smallholder farmers could afford at the various agro-ecological zones to promote the plowing of more farm lands.