Bananas and Food Security - Bioversity International

Afrique / Africa : R. Achard et P. Sama Lang
Description des systèmes
de production du sud-ouest
du Cameroun :
quels enseignements
pour l’intervention de la recherche?
R. Achard 1 et P. Sama Lang 2
Abstract – Description of farming systems in southwest Cameroon. What can be
learned for intervention by the research sector?
Plantain is a food crop of prime importance in southwest Cameroon. In addition, the
strong demand for plantain in urban zones and the existence of a relatively efficient
chain of supply is giving the crop an increasing important commercial role.
In Cameroon, plantain is a traditional component of food crop farming systems. However,
the development of cash crops (coffee and cocoa), with plantain grown temporarily or
permanently, has strengthened its position in farming systems. The development of
commercial outlets has enhanced the establishing of mono-specific plantain cropping,
usually in extensive cultivation after clearance of forest. Today, very varied cropping
systems are observed meeting more or less marked diversification strategies and different
proportions of plantain marketing in relation to on-farm consumption.
Farm appraisals must be carried out for better identification of the constraints of these
crops and the level at which they are involved. These appraisals require study methods
suited to the different scales of analysis: field, holding, micro-region and the sector in a
region.
At field scale, diagnostic surveys have already shown their value in export fruit
plantations and smallholdings. The survey performed in Cameroon in 1993 showed the
effect of fertility on plant growth and the bunches produced. However, the appraisal did
not target yield directly, as this is difficult to appraise in a single visit. The effect of certain
factors is therefore underestimated or possibly not seen.
The permanent watch approach at field level leads to better understanding of crop yield
build-up. This is achieved by the study of growth during the vegetative phase, plant size
at flowering and relation of this to the bunch produced and the filling phase. This
1 CRBP/CIRAD-FLHOR, Douala, Cameroun
2 CRBP/IRAD, Douala, Cameroun.
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