Vatsa, PuneetMa, WanglinZheng, H2024-01-292024-01-292023-02-092023https://hdl.handle.net/10182/16818This study analyzes the effects of different combinations of organic soil amendments (OSAs) and chemical fertilizers (i.e., the OSA-CF ratio) on banana yield. We segmented farmers along two dimensions. First, we considered four groups of farmers along the OSA-CF ratio continuum. The first group comprised farmers not using any OSAs; their OSA-CF ratio was zero. Farmers using low, medium, and high OSA-CF ratios constituted groups two, three, and four; the groups were delineated based on the OSA-CF tertiles. Second, we disaggregated the data into quintiles based on chemical fertilizer expenditure and analyzed the association between OSA-CF ratios and banana yield within each quintile—this is because farmers using small amounts of chemical fertilizers and those using them generously may have similar OSA-CF ratios. Data from 616 farm households in three major banana-producing provinces (Guangdong, Hainan, and Yunnan) of China were analyzed. The effects of OSA-CF ratios on banana yield varied across different quintiles. For the first and second quintiles, low, medium, and high OSA-CF ratios improved banana yield relative to not using OSAs. However, a low OSA-CF ratio was associated with maximum gains. Should farmers in the first quintile not using OSAs switch to applying a low OSA-CF ratio, they may improve yield by 744 kilograms/mu; their counterparts in the second quintile would increase yield by 633 kilograms/mu with the same transition. For the fifth quintile (farmers spending more than 320 yuan/mu on chemical fertilizers), applying a high OSA-CF ratio instead of using only chemical fertilizers may reduce yield by 365 kilograms/mu; even so, for this group, transitioning from not applying OSAs to using low and medium OSA-CF ratios would not affect banana yield. As overuse of chemical fertilizers leads to soil degradation and crop failure, some farmers apply OSAs such as organic fertilizers and farmyard manure to adjust and remedy soil nutrition to maintain or improve farm productivity. Although combining OSAs with chemical fertilizers at different ratios would generate different outcomes in crop preproduction, little is known about how farmers’ decisions on fertilizer use trade-offs affect crop yield. This study provides the first attempt to explore the associations between OSA-CF ratios and crop yield, using banana production as an example. Banana farmers using only chemical fertilizers can improve yield by combining them with OSAs if their chemical fertilizer expenditure is less than 66.67 yuan/mu. Farmers applying a low OSA-CF ratio could double the OSA-CF ratio while maintaining yield and alleviating environmental stress. Policymakers should design educational and awareness programs to inform farmers of these benefits and accelerate the transition to sustainable agriculture. Combining OSAs with chemical fertilizers can improve yield while attenuating the ill effects of chemical fertilizers.Conference Contribution - unpublished