Examining the Relationship Among Socio-Demographic, Institutional Factors and Adoption of Best Tomato Production Practices in Southern Ghana

Abstract

Tomato, an important staple in many Ghanaian homes, provides livelihood for many farming households. Despite its importance, farmers within major growing tomato districts are either unaware or have not adopted productivity enhancing tomato production practices. This paper examined the relationship between socioeconomic and institutional factors and the adoption of pre-emergence, post-emergence and filed management practices in the Ada West and Central Tongu districts. The study employed descriptive and inferential statistics such as frequencies, percentages, means, and chi-square test to describe the respondents and test of independence between farmer characteristics and adoption. The results revealed that the adoption rates of preemergence, post-emergence and field management practices were 48%, 50% and 64%, respectively. Factors such as farm size, education, farming experience, land tenure arrangements, access to extension services, access to credit and point of sale were found to be significantly associated with adoption of these practices. The main constraints to double season production were reported as unavailability of water and fluctuations in market demand. It is recommended that extension officers and researchers focus their dissemination messages on improved tomato production practices through appropriate channels and build farmers' capacity on the improved practices for enhanced food security and incomes of smallholder tomato farmers in Ghana.