Adoption du matériel végétal et itinéraires techniques en plantations villageoises de palmier à huile : cas de la région des lagunes, Côte d'Ivoire

In the Lagune region Côte d'Ivoire), smallholders frequently use unselected palm oil seeds. A survey based on 150 planters (401 plots) revealed that 40% of palm oil fields are grown with unselected seeds. In this region, the practice started during the second government-sponsored programme (1985-1990), probably because the demand for seeds was higher than the supply at the time. However, since access to selected seeds was liberalised (1995), the use of unselected seeds is still widespread. On the whole, since the privatisation took place, production systems have tended to be less intensive (associated crops, few fertilisers, etc.). Although the high cost of inputs and the end of the credit scheme for investment in palm plantations are largely responsible for the reduction of intensive production, other factors such as the diverse uses of palm, the convenience of the Abidjan market for selling red palm and palm wine, and the interest in diverse crops, need to be taken into account. Nevertheless, lock of information does not seem, in this region, to be a preponderant factor in the continuous use of unselected seeds. (Résumé d'auteur