Costs and benefits associated with the adoption of tomato and sweet pepper nursery seed propagation technologies in Arumeru and Mvomero districts in Tanzania

Abstract

Seed propagation technologies are becoming increasingly popular among vegetable producers in developing countries due to their ability to provide benefits by lowering production costs. We assessed the costs and benefits of seed propagation technology adoption for tomato and sweet pepper production using a partial budget approach for seedling trays or field nursery technologies in the districts of Arumeru and Mvomero in Tanzania. We applied Net Present Value, Cost–Benefit Ratio (CBR) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) to choose the best seed propagation technology that can be adopted by farmers and especially those producing vegetable seedlings as their core business and for commercial purposes. We collected the data using a household survey questionnaire, interviews, and focus group discussions. The results show that switching from field nurseries to seedling trays is economically beneficial by increasing the rate of return value to 3.02, which is greater than one, implying a rate of return of 302 %, which is greater than the costs of new investments. Overall, we can conclude that farmers were less likely to grow vegetable seedlings in seedling trays due to the fact that seedling tray technology was considerably more expensive than field nursery technology. As a result, we recommend that policymakers at all levels of local and central governments promote extension agent training in this technology to promote seedling tray propagation among vegetable farmers and make the technology affordable to farmers in order to increase agricultural productivity, income, and well-being.