Abstract
Tailored interventions in the tomato sector require current information on production and marketing systems along with the constraints faced by the stakeholders. We conducted this study to understand the current production practices, stakeholders’ varietal preferences, tomato market trends, and challenges along the crop’s value chains. A multistage sampling method coupled with a random walk was used to identify survey locations and identify 180 respondents across seven regions in Ghana. The study showed that tomato was predominantly produced by male (81%) and literate farmers (84%). Tomato farmers were smallholder farmers generally cultivating less than five acres. Tomato was mainly cultivated under rainfed conditions. Farmers used both bought seeds and their own saved seeds for production. Farmers in Bono, Greater Accra, and the Upper East region largely cultivated improved tomato varieties, while farmers in the Bono East region cultivated local varieties. Across the regions, being a male and having access to irrigation facilities increased the probability of using improved varieties by 19% and 51%, respectively. The most important farmer and market preference criteria included high yield, medium to large fruit size and rounded fruit shape, red color, time to maturity and disease resistance. The major production challenges of tomato production included diseases, pests, and poor access to water for irrigation. The average yield of tomato varied from 6902.26 kg/ha in the Bono Region to 16,213.98 kg/ha in Bono East. Tomato was exclusively produced for fresh market. The major marketing challenges were low producer prices, low demand for produce, and competition from other farmers. This study provides key information to improve tomato value chains and guide the introduction or breeding of improved tomato varieties.
Highlights
Vegetable production is an important component of global agricultural system, as it contributes to food and nutrition security, income generation, and employment creation [1,2]
The study locations covered seven regions namely, Ahafo, Ashanti, Bono, Bono East, Eastern, Greater Accra, and Upper East regions, which are well known for tomato production [7]
Tomato production is dominated by smallholder farmers, and it is mostly rainfed
Summary
Vegetable production is an important component of global agricultural system, as it contributes to food and nutrition security, income generation, and employment creation [1,2]. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is the second most important economic vegetable produced in the world in terms of land area under cultivation and consumption. The world total fresh tomato production was approximately 180 million tonnes in 2019 on 5 million hectares of land. Ghana produced 395,755 tonnes on 92,045 ha of land in 2019 [3]. The annual estimated tomato consumption in Ghana was approximately 400,900 tonnes [4,5] which was more than the country’s domestic supply. To meet the demand of tomato and tomato products (peeled tomato, juice, and paste), Ghana imported 8753 tonnes of fresh tomato at a value of approximately US $1.84 million, and Sustainability 2022, 14, 1436.
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