Optimal Cropping Sequence in Pluriactive Non-specialised Vegetable Farms in the Northwest Region of Cameroon

Cameroon champions the vegetable subsector in the Central African sub region both in output levels, export quantities and foreign exchange earnings. The country exports, formally and informally, fresh vegetables to neighboring countries like Nigeria, Central African Republic, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. Besides ensuring food self-sufficiency, the primary intention of these pluriactive non-specialized vegetable farmers who also cultivate staple energy food crops as complementary and supplementary enterprises is to maximize farm profits subject to the numerous constraints. These constraints are further compounded by an acute incidence of climate variability, seasonal price fluctuations and poor farm planning. This study sought to find out an annual cropping pattern or sequence that maximizes annual returns and enhances the optimal allocation and utilization of farm resources. The study adopted the stratified random sampling technique to interview 120 vegetable farmers in the Northwest Region of Cameroon, from which pluriactive non-specialized were identified. This data was subjected to inferential statistical and dynamic programming analytical techniques. Theresults identified sixteen species of vegetable crops cultivated alongside energy food crops in the study area. The study further identified three cropping seasons in a year (March-June, July-October, and November-February) and suggested the prioritization of the tuber vegetable during the first cropping season, the leafy vegetables during the second cropping season and the fruit vegetables during the third cropping season. This optimal cropping pastern is highly responsive to climate weather risks and market shocks thus presenting potentials of yielding higher profits of up to 5 256 614.8 FCFA ((US$ 8761.0) per annum from pluriactive vegetable farming