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Abstract
In the 1990s, no-till with mulch, a sustainable agricultural alternative, was introduced to Ghanaian farmers through a joint program between the Crops Research Institute in Kusami, Ghana, Sasakawa Global 2000, and the Monsanto Company. The package was disseminated to farmers in the Forest, Transition, and Guinea Savannah Zones, and rapidly adopted. In 2000, it was estimated that 100,000 small-scale farmers practiced no-till on 45,000 hectares of land. This study examines the impact of no-till on farmers who adopted the technology in the three zones, and to a lesser extent, the reasons for non-adoption. The impact of no-till among agrochemical dealers was also evaluated. The report found that no-till brought important changes to farmers using the technology and expanded the market for agrochemicals. It calls for more research on machinery for the technology, crop rotations, and the dynamics of diseases and weed and pest populations. More research on the organization and performance of agrochemical markets is also needed to identify bottlenecks that hamper the dissemination of no-till.