Determinants of adoption and impacts of spineless cactus for animal feed: a Tunisian case

Abstract

With the advent and fast pace of climate change, finding suitable crop types and varieties that equip farming communities to better adapt and build their resilience deserves high attention. Cactus pear is one such crop, which not only can thrive under harsh conditions of moisture and heat stresses, but also provides various ecosystem services including food, feed, soil conservation, and habitat for wildlife. The spineless type eliminates one of the major challenges of cactus production – its spines on both the cladodes, which are used for food and feed, and on its fruits. Using data from 256 Tunisian farmers, this study attempted to identify the factors that influence farmers’ adoption of spineless cactus (SPLC) and the economic impacts on those who adopt. Results of a double hurdle model showed that farmers cultivating cactus for dual-purposes (for fruits and fodder) and at a high density have higher propensity to adopt SPLC while older cactus plantations are associated with cultivation of the spiny type. Once farmers decide to adopt SPLC, our results show that those with larger farm size tend to adopt it on a larger area while those who use higher fertilizer rates and can allocate more labor per hectare tend to devote smaller area for SPLC. Results of the treatment effects model show that the adoption of SPLC only for animal feed does not have a significant effect on the amount of forage that can be harvested and the associated profit. The only two variables that affect harvested quantity of forage and profit are fertilizer input and labor rates. One implication of our results is that enhanced adoption of the spineless cactus can be achieved by promoting it as a dual-purpose crop and targeting primarily those who already cultivate it as such, and more so on relatively larger areas.