Profitability of chemical weed control in ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) production in Northern Nigeria

An economic assessment on the use of chemical weed control in ginger produc tion in 1990 and 1991 indicated substantial reduction in labour requirement with the use of herbicides. The amount and consequently the cost of mulchi ng was also reduced when herbicides instead of manual hand weeding was used as a weed control method. Although comparable yields to the hand weeding w ere obtained in the herbicide-treated plot, the net returns and returns per Naira invested in weed control were significantly higher with herbicide ap plication in 1990. Whereas value of added profit. was positive only in 1990 , value of labour saved through chemical weed control was positive througho ut and increased substantially in 1991. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.