African Journal of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development

African Journal of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development ISSN 2375-0693 Vol. 6 (2), pp. 604-612, February, 2018. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

The decision to control cocoa capsids with capsicides: The case of cocoa producers in the Sekyere Area, Ashanti Region, Ghana

^*Eric Asare¹_, Eduardo Segarra, ²Kwasi Ohene-Yankyera³ and Gertrude Nakakeeto⁴

¹Department of Agric. & Resource Economics, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon,Canada.

 ²Texas Tech University Agricultural Sciences 205-ELubbock, TX 79409-213, USA.

³Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ashanti, Ghana.

⁴Texas Tech University, Box 42132 Lubbock, TX 79409, USA.

Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]

Accepted 11 February, 2018

Abstract

 The cocoa capsid is a critical pest in Ghana. Uncontrolled it can cause up to about 30 percent cocoa yield loss, directly affecting the livelihoods of about 800,000 cocoa farmers in southern Ghana. This study uses a logit model to estimate the magnitudes of the effects of the factors that influence the adoption of capsicide by cocoa producers in the Sekyere Area, Ashanti Region, Ghana. It uses a survey data collected by the Ghana Sustainable Cocoa Competitive Systems, Accra, Ghana, on active cocoa producers in the study area in the 2006/2007 cocoa production season. Our results show that producer’s farming experience, producer’s engagement in off-farm economic activities, producer’s access to credit, extension visit, cocoa output, producer’s age, and membership in a farmers’ group are likely to influence cocoa farmers’ decision to adopt capsicide. The results could help Ghana manage cocoa capsid efficiently

Keywords: Cocoa, Capsid Bugs, Capsicide, Chemical Control, Logit Model.