Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 January 1997
The importance of vegetable crops has been increasing in West Africa for the past forty years. This paper describes the evolution of intensive mixed vegetable production in the Niayes area near Dakar between 1970 and 1990. The importance of cultivation in low-lying areas with very few inputs have decreased but irrigated cropping systems have become more important due to the better adaptation of vegetative material, application of more fertilizers and better control of pests and diseases. This intensification appears to be irreversible, in spite of the negative effects of the more intensive use of land.