Are Farmers Surviving the Level of Seasonal Cultivation of Tomatoes in Ghana? A Tobit Regression Analysis

Abstract

Tomato is an important vegetable in the cultivation and diet of Ghanaians. However, statistics have shown that domestic production of fresh tomato is on the decline. As an important traded commodity, the research wonders if the decline is due to lower farm land devoted to its cultivation.The paper therefore, seeks to identify factors that influence the seasonal farm size devoted to tomato cultivation. A total of 159 farmers in three regions in Ghana were purposively and randomly sampled and interviewed. Results from thetobitregression model suggests that approaching the dry season, farmers using any irrigation technology tend to allocate smaller proportion of farmland to tomato. It was also realised that as farmers acquire additional farmland for crop production, they are likely to reduce the level of tomato cultivation. This could mean that farmers are only surviving the cultivation of tomato as they are unlikely to increase its cultivation. Strategies that reduce the cost of irrigation especially in the drier seasons and enhance access is critical for increasing tomato production in Ghana. Training of farmers must target good storage and use of seeds from formal sources.

Key words: Seasonal, Tomato, Cultivation, Tobit Model, Ghana