2025/01/01 by Abossèdé Murielle Lucrèce Faïhun, Lalaina Ranaivoson, Murielle Lucrèce Faïhun, Abossèdé +8
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Agricultural constraints #Agricultural pest management studies #Agriculture and Rural Development Research #Centre et Sud du Bénin #Contraintes agricoles Grain legumes #Farm structures Central and Southern Benin #Légumineuses à graines #Phytase and its Applications #Structures des exploitations agricoles
paper · pdf · doi:10.17180/ciag-2025-vol99-art10
openalex publication_date 2025/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/02/02 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/27
Grain legumes are economically affordable protein food and nutrition sources, considered ideal solutions to malnutrition that affects millions of people worldwide. In the Republic of Benin, the main cultivated species are, in order of importance, soybeans, peanuts, cowpeas, Bambara groundnut, pigeon peas, and earth lentils. In 2020-2021, the total production of grain legumes represented 5.43% of food harvests in Benin. This production level is still low to cover food needs and fulfil environmental functions. This study was carried out to assess the place of grain legumes on farms in central and southern Benin through analyses of the structure of farms and existing cropping systems. Data were collected from 140 farms in 2 villages in the departments of Zou and Collines in central Benin. Data analysis revealed a diversity of farm structures. Grain legumes are planted on more than 50% of agricultural land in the study areas. They are grown in rotation and/or in crop mixture (intercrop). However, intercropsare less frequent and practiced by only 17% of farms. The main constraints faced by grain legumes’ farmers relate to the difficulty of access to inputs and labor, andtheir low profitability. The data collected will help defining relevant strategies to improve the profitability and sustainability of cropping systems integrating grain legumes.