Effects of Fertilizer Subsidy on the Yield of Crops Among Rural Farmers in Sudan Savannah and Guinea Savannah Zones of Ghana

Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy of Ghana. The Government has given special attention to the sector to play a leading role in the economic development of the country. The role of the sector is an engine of economic development and depends upon other things on sustainable use of the land resource. This study was carried out in the Sudan Savannah (Bawku and Navrongo) and Guinea Savannah (Tolon kumbungu and Walewale) zone of Ghana to assess the effect of fertilizer subsidy on yield of crops among rural farmers. Data was collected from randomly selected households by administering questionnaire and a descriptive statistics consisting of simple percentages, frequencies, means and tables, were used to examine the socio-economic characteristics of farmers. The arithmetic mean was used to find the average farm size per acre and output per acre of beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries of the fertilizer subsidy program. Results of the analysis showed that 93% of the sampled farmers were men. Land ownership of the farmers was known to affect their farming activities. Evidence from this study reveals that (63%) of the farmers were sole owners, (13%) hired, (25%) family, 68% belong to farmers group and 32% do not belong to any association. The percentage of beneficiaries of the fertilizer subsidy program was 68% and that of the non-beneficiaries was 32%. The average output per acre of the beneficiaries of the fertilizer subsidy program were16.15kg/acre maize, 7kg/acre soybean, 41kg/acre rice and 8kg/acre groundnut and average output per acre for the non-beneficiaries of the fertilizer subsidy program were 12.38kg/acre maize, 2.25kg/acre soybean, 8.5kg/acre rice and 5kg/acre groundnut. The average output per acre of the beneficiaries before the fertilizer subsidy program were 16.15kg/acre maize, 7kg/acre soybean, 40.4kg/acre rice and 8kg/acre groundnut and that of the beneficiaries output per acre after the fertilizer subsidy program were 19.54kg/acre maize, 8kg/acre soybean, 29kg/acre rice and 4.2kg/acre groundnut. Majority 93% of the farmers were aware of the fertilizer subsidy program and few were unaware of the fertilizer subsidy program 7%