Abstract
The adoption of improved sorghum technologies by smallholder farmers is still low in Tanzania. Many farmers fail to acquire quality inputs due to different underlying reasons. This article analyzes factors underlining the adoption of improved technologies among sorghum farmers in Tanzania and evaluates profitability of grain production. A total of 212 individual farmers were interviewed through structured questionnaires from nine districts. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, probit regression model and gross margin analysis. Results show that 39.2%, 26.5%, 16.9%, 8.4% and 7.2% of sorghum farmers adopted seeds of improved varieties, insecticides, inorganic fertilizers, threshing machine and optimum seed rate, respectively. Probit estimates indicated that age, sex, number of years in school, group membership, farm size, availability of free seeds, seed accessibility, grain market accessibility and grain market price were the significant factors influencing adoption of these technologies. Adopters obtained higher profitability (822,288 Tshs/ha) than non-adopters (374,363 Tshs/ha) of improved varieties. Further policy actions are needed to improve determinants of adoption, breeding technologies and accessibility of agricultural inputs to ensure benefits to farmers and the sorghum sub-sector.
Highlights
The agricultural sector contributes to 32.4% of GDP and occupies over 70% of smallholder farmers in Tanzania (Faura, 2016)
Young farmers were more receptive towards practices such as optimum seed rate since they are believed to be less conservative than older farmers
The adoption studies that evaluated factors leading to adoption decision of different improved technologies among farmers mainly focus in improving farmers yield and profitability
Summary
The agricultural sector contributes to 32.4% of GDP and occupies over 70% of smallholder farmers in Tanzania (Faura, 2016). Smallholder farmers cultivate about 5.1 million hectares annually for both subsistence and cash crops (Muyanga & Jayne, 2017). This explains the importance of smallholder farming in Tanzania and the need for continuing investments and improvement to support sustainable agriculture, poverty reduction and nutritional goals (Msangi, 2017). Sorghum is highly grown in semi-arid regions in Tanzania primarily for food consumption and commercial purposes. It is the third most important cereal crop with a total production of 812,488 hectares and over 500,000 tons per year in the country (FAO [Food and Agricultural Organization], 2018). Sorghum production in the country still need efforts for improvement since many farmers fail to reach attainable yield and profit levels due to factors such as unfavorable climatic changes, pests, diseases and poor technologies (CCAFS [Climate Change Agriculture and Food Security], 2015)
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