scholarly journals Practices and constraints of tomato production among smallholder farmers in Uganda

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (02) ◽  
pp. 17560-17580
Author(s):  
G Ddamulira ◽  
◽  
O Isaac ◽  
M Kiryowa ◽  
R Akullo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Viral Infections ◽  
Market Access ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Cropping System ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Yield Potential ◽  
Potential Yield ◽  
Tomato Production ◽  
Tomato Yield ◽  
On Farm

Tomato(Solanum esculentum)is one of the most promising vegetables whose production is being intensified in Uganda. However, tomato yields remain low due to several constraints. The study aimed at identifying production and marketing practices, and constraints affecting tomato productivity in major tomato growing areas of Uganda. A survey was conducted in eight major tomato producing districts using a questionnaire to guide interviews for 240 farmers and 16 key informants. The data were analyzed using SPSS software. Results revealed that tomato production in Uganda is dominated by males who grow them on 0.68 acres of land on average. Mosttomatofarmers (78.4%) use mono cropping system with varietiesAsilla F1 (35.3%), Tengeru97(21.1%), Rambo (18.1%), NovelaF1(17.7%) and Riogrande (10.3%) dominating. The choice of tomato varieties used by farmers mainly depend on yield potential, pest and disease tolerance and market preference attributes such as long shelf life. In the study area, tomato is mainly fertilized using foliar fertilizers, followed by Diammonium phosphate and cattle manure. The key pests affecting tomato include caterpillars, thrips, worms and whitefly, while bacterial wilt, blight, leaf spots and viral infections are the major diseases. Majority (95.7%) of farmers use chemical sprays(pesticides and fungicides)and 4.3% of farmers used other control methods. The other methods of pest and disease control included rogueing, hand picking, ash, organic extracts, urine and frequent weeding. Average tomato yield was 4,846.3 kg/acre lower than the potential yield of 6000kg/acre. Thirty five percent of farmers market their tomato individually on-farm, 32.8% sell in rural markets, while 32.2% send to the nearest urban markets. The study revealed intensive chemical use accounting for 20% of the production costs, high seed costs (11%) and drought (10%) as the major production constraints impeding tomato production; and price fluctuations, low prices, high transport costs, post-harvest loss on farm, and poor market access as the major marketing constraints. The research findings will aid in the development of new market-oriented, highly productive tomato varieties with improved access to seed and designing initiatives to address production and marketing constraints, which will eventually enhance tomato production.

scholarly journals Simulating switchgrass aboveground biomass and production costs in eastern Canada with the Integrated Farm System Model

2019 ◽  
Vol 99 (6) ◽  
pp. 785-800
Author(s):  
Marc Duchemin ◽  
Guillaume Jégo ◽  
René Morissette
Keyword(s):  
Production Costs ◽  
System Model ◽  
Yield Potential ◽  
High Yield ◽  
Quebec City ◽  
Buffer Strips ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Potential Yield ◽  
Farm System ◽  
Mean Square Errors

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is a herbaceous perennial grass that can be used as bedding for livestock, planted in buffer strips, and used as biofuel, but it is still not widely grown in eastern Canada. The objectives of this study were to verify the performance of the Integrated Farm System Model (IFSM) in simulating switchgrass growth and to estimate its yield potential and production costs in eastern Canada. The performance of IFSM was assessed with dry matter (DM) yield of switchgrass (‘Cave-in-Rock’) measured over three growing seasons (2015–2017) in southern Quebec, Canada. The model performed reasonably well, with normalized root mean square errors of 19.5% for calibration and 27.9% for validation. Simulation results of potential yield and economic management over the long term (1986–2015) for five switchgrass production sites in eastern Canada indicated that average DM yields in Quebec City and Fredericton (9.6 and 9.7 t ha−1, respectively) were significantly lower than average DM yields in Saint-Hubert, Ottawa, and London (10.8, 10.4, and 11.0 t ha−1, respectively). Average annual production costs per tonne of DM for the spring harvest were higher at low-yield sites (CAD$66.67 and $64.50 for Fredericton and Quebec City, respectively) than at high-yield sites ($60.10, $62.82, and $60.08 for Saint-Hubert, Ottawa, and London, respectively). The IFSM-estimated production costs were within the range of the calculated values reported in other agro-economic analyses conducted in Ontario and Quebec.

Soybean Yield Loss Potential Associated with Early-Season Weed Competition across 64 Site-Years

Weed Science ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 500-507 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathanael D. Fickett ◽  
Chris M. Boerboom ◽  
David E. Stoltenberg
Keyword(s):  
Yield Loss ◽  
Average Density ◽  
Yield Potential ◽  
Weed Competition ◽  
Growth Stages ◽  
Average Height ◽  
Weed Species ◽  
Potential Yield ◽  
Early Season ◽  
On Farm

Glyphosate applied POST can provide a high level of efficacy on many weed species in soybean, but delayed application beyond optimal weed growth stages might fail to fully protect yield potential. Further, we do not have a good understanding of the extent to which delayed glyphosate application and its associated yield loss is occurring on-farm. Our goal was to characterize on-farm weed communities in glyphosate-resistant soybean just prior to glyphosate application and estimate potential yield loss associated with early-season soybean-weed competition. In field surveys conducted across 64 site-yr in southern Wisconsin in 2008 and 2009, common lambsquarters, velvetleaf, dandelion,Polygonumspp., andAmaranthusspp. were the five most abundant broadleaf weed species across site-years, present in 92, 69, 64, 42, and 50% of all fields, respectively, at average densities of 14, 5, 5, 14, and 10 plants m−2, respectively. Average height of these species was 21 cm or less at or near the time of glyphosate application. Grass and sedge species occurred in 95% of fields at an average density of 41 plants m−2and height of 21 cm. The mean and median values of total weed density across site-years were 101 and 41 plants m−2, with heights of 19 and 17 cm, respectively. Recommended height for treatment is 15 cm. Glyphosate application occurred on average at V3 to V4 soybean growth stage, which is later than V2 soybean typically targeted to protect yield. Average yield loss predicted by WeedSOFT® was 5% with a mean economic loss of $47 ha−1. Predicted yield loss was greater than 5% on one-fourth of the site-years, all of which were treated at V4 soybean or later. The maximum predicted yield loss was 27%. These results suggest that glyphosate was applied at weed height and soybean growth stages that were greater than optimal to protect yield in many fields across southern Wisconsin. A soil-residual herbicide applied PRE, or a more timely POST application of glyphosate would alleviate the majority of these losses.

scholarly journals Tomato Yield Stability during Five-year Transition to Conservation Tillage and Cover Cropping

HortScience ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 1111A-1111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey P. Mitchell ◽  
William R. Horwath ◽  
Karen K. Klonsky ◽  
Randal J. Southard ◽  
Rich DeMoura ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cover Crops ◽  
Weed Management ◽  
Conservation Tillage ◽  
High Surface ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Tomato Production ◽  
Production Region ◽  
Cover Cropping ◽  
Tomato Yield ◽  
Ct System

Eliminating tillage passes is a means to reduce production costs and dust emissions in California's San Joaquin Valley tomato production region. Inserting winter cover crops between summer crops may be a way to add organic matter to the soil and thereby improve soil quality. From 1999, we evaluated conservation tillage (CT) and cover cropping (CC) in a tomato/cotton rotation in Five Points, Calif. During the course of the study, tillage operations were reduced an average of 50% in the CT system relative to the standard tillage (ST) approach. Yields in the CT no cover crop (NO) system matched or exceeded yields in the STNO system in each year. Tomato yields in the CTCC and STCC systems were comparable to the STNO except in the first year, when stand establishment and early season vigor were problems. Weed management and machine harvest efficiency in high surface residue systems are issues requiring additional work in order to make CT adoption more widespread.

APPLYING SIMULATION TO IMPROVE RICE VARIETIES IN REDUCING THE ON-FARM YIELD GAP IN CAMBODIAN LOWLAND RICE ECOSYSTEMS

2014 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 264-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. L. POULTON ◽  
T. VESNA ◽  
N. P. DALGLIESH ◽  
V. SENG
Keyword(s):  
Climate Variability ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Cropping System ◽  
Rice Production ◽  
Lowland Rice ◽  
Yield Gap ◽  
Rice Varieties ◽  
Seasonal Climate ◽  
Rice Ecosystems ◽  
On Farm

SUMMARYAchieving export growth in rice production from variable rainfed lowland rice ecosystems is at risk if depending on conventional breeding or genetic development alone. Sustained, long-term production requires building adaption capacity of smallholder farmers to better manage the challenges of seasonal climate variability and future climate change. Better understanding of the risks and constraints that farmers face in managing their current cropping system helps develop strategies for improving rice production in Cambodia. System models are now considered valuable assessment tools for evaluating cropping systems performance worldwide but require validation at the local level. This paper presents an evaluation of the APSIM-Oryza model for 15 Cambodian rice varieties under recommended practice. Data from a field experiment in 2011, conducted in a non-limiting water and nutrient environment, are used to calibrate varietal-specific coefficients and model input parameters. An independent dataset is then used to validate the model performance for a ‘real-world’ situation using on-farm data for six rice varieties planted in 54 farmer fields on 32 farms in two villages of Southeastern Cambodia. From this analysis, the APSIM-Oryza model is shown to be an acceptable tool for exploring the mismatch between current on-farm yields and potential production through yield gap analysis and the exploration of cropping system options for smallholder farmers to increase production, adapt to seasonal climate variability and be prepared for potential climate changes.

scholarly journals Production diversity and dietary diversity in smallholder farm households

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (34) ◽  
pp. 10657-10662 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kibrom T. Sibhatu ◽  
Vijesh V. Krishna ◽  
Matin Qaim
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Market Access ◽  
Dietary Diversity ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Dietary Quality ◽  
Household Level ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Smallholder Farm ◽  
Production Diversity ◽  
On Farm

Undernutrition and micronutrient malnutrition remain problems of significant magnitude in large parts of the developing world. Improved nutrition requires not only better access to food for poor population segments, but also higher dietary quality and diversity. Because many of the poor and undernourished people are smallholder farmers, diversifying production on these smallholder farms is widely perceived as a useful approach to improve dietary diversity. However, empirical evidence on the link between production and consumption diversity is scarce. Here, this issue is addressed with household-level data from Indonesia, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Malawi. Regression models show that on-farm production diversity is positively associated with dietary diversity in some situations, but not in all. When production diversity is already high, the association is not significant or even turns negative, because of foregone income benefits from specialization. Analysis of other factors reveals that market access has positive effects on dietary diversity, which are larger than those of increased production diversity. Market transactions also tend to reduce the role of farm diversity for household nutrition. These results suggest that increasing on-farm diversity is not always the most effective way to improve dietary diversity in smallholder households and should not be considered a goal in itself. Additional research is needed to better understand how agriculture and food systems can be made more nutrition-sensitive in particular situations.

scholarly journals Relay Cropping Bell Pepper and Tomato: Effects of Cropping Sequence and Transplanting Date

HortScience ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Ravneet K. Sandhu ◽  
Nathan S. Boyd ◽  
Lincoln Zotarelli ◽  
Shinsuke Agehara ◽  
Natalia Peres
Keyword(s):  
Field Experiments ◽  
Gulf Coast ◽  
Cropping System ◽  
Bell Pepper ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Tomato Crop ◽  
Tomato Yield ◽  
Cropping Sequence ◽  
Relay Cropping ◽  
Research And Education

Vegetable growers in Florida face rising production costs, reduced crop value, and competition from foreign markets. Relay cropping is a variant of double cropping, where the second crop is planted into the first crop before the harvest is finished. This cropping system may be a potential solution to lower production costs per crop by sharing some inputs for two crops. The objectives of this study were to determine the effect of cropping sequence and transplanting date of the secondary crop when relay cropping tomato and bell pepper. Two field experiments were conducted at the Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in Balm, FL, in 2018 and 2019. In the first experiment, tomato was grown as the primary crop and bell pepper was added as the secondary crop, with multiple transplanting dates (8 Aug., 23 Aug., 7 Sept., and 24 Sept.). The second experiment had the same setup but the reverse cropping sequence. Bell pepper yield as the secondary crop was reduced by 65% when grown with tomato as the primary crop compared with bell pepper planted alone. Transplanting date had no effect on bell pepper yield (P = 0.091). Tomato yield was unaffected by the presence of the secondary crop. In the second experiment, tomato yield as a secondary crop was 36% lower when grown with bell pepper as the primary crop compared with tomato crop alone (monocropped). However, tomato yield was significantly reduced by the presence of bell pepper only when tomato crop was planted within 30 to 45 days after planting bell pepper. Based on these results, we recommend relay cropping tomato as the secondary crop within 30 days of planting of bell pepper as the primary crop. However, we do not recommend relay cropping bell pepper as the secondary crop with tomato.

scholarly journals Economic and productive analysis of irrigated rice crops using a multicase study

2021 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur Inácio Saldanha Xavier ◽  
Alessandro Porporatti Arbage ◽  
Michel Rocha da Silva ◽  
Giovana Ghisleni Ribas ◽  
Lorenzo Dalcin Meus ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Grain Yield ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Growth And Yield ◽  
Yield Potential ◽  
Investment Planning ◽  
Potential Yield ◽  
Irrigated Rice ◽  
South Of Brazil ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Multicase Study

Abstract: The objective of this work was to evaluate the relationship between grain yield and production costs of flood-irrigated rice (Oryza sativa) in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, in order to determine the yield range that maximizes the profit of farmers. There are estimations pointing out that the yield range that maximizes the profit for farmers is about 75 and 85% of the yield potential; however, this still needs to be validated for irrigated rice in Brazil. To validate these values, a technical and economic monitoring was carried out for eight farmers of irrigated rice, whose production costs were measured and compared with the mean yield and the percentage of potential yield achieved. To determine the potential yield of each crop, SimulArroz, a process-based model developed for the simulation of rice growth and yield in the South of Brazil, was used. The grain yield achieved by the farmers ranged from 6.3 to 11.0 Mg ha-1 (48 to 83% of the potential yield), costs ranged from R$4,197.00 ha-1 to R$6,227.00 ha-1, and profit ranged from R$-52.00 ha-1 to R$3,599.00 ha-1. Farmers who reach between 69 and 83% of yield potential achieve the highest profitability. The investment planning based on the yield potential calculated by the SimulArroz model can be efficiently adopted for irrigated rice crops.

Evaluation of castorbean samples by economically - valuable traits

2018 ◽  
pp. 39-48
Keyword(s):  
Ricinoleic Acid ◽  
Castor Bean ◽  
Castor Oil ◽  
Oil Content ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Second Order ◽  
Yield Potential ◽  
Technological Parameters ◽  
Potential Yield ◽  
Ricinolic Acid

Castor oil (Ricinus communus L.) is an important commercial product. The climatic conditions of Ukraine determine the possibility of growing the castor as an annual crop. At the Institute of Oilseeds NAAS studied castor collection. The aim of the work was the selection of the most promising samples of castor oil, combining a large yield potential in a narrow range of vertical distribution for optimal technological parameters of mechanical harvesting with a high content of oil in seeds and ricinolic acid in oil. In the experience of 2015-2016, the manifestation of morphological features of 17 castor bean samples was studied. The height of plants, individual samples among themselves differed more than twice. Long-brush samples of ЕР118, К374, М203, К159 are distinguished on the basis of the length of the brush. The shortest brush was observed in sample K1008. The length of the productive brush in the studied samples is from 10.7 to 32.9 cm. Most castor bean samples under favorable conditions form brushes of the second and higher orders. According to this parameter, samples of Ep118 and selection No. 38 with four inflorescences of the second order are of the greatest interest. The largest brushes of the second order are similar in size to the brushes of the first order were observed in the samples: К1127, К810, К153. The adaptability of harvesting castor beads requires that the brushes of the first and second order coincide in height with each other, since the harvester can take a maximum of 60 cm. For the sum of the productive brushes of the first and second orders, the greatest potential yield will be provided by samples K159 and K1127. Among the studied collection stands out the small seed sample K159 and the large seed samples - PRL41 and K80. The average oil content in the seeds of the collection was from 52 to 61.4%. Sample38 had the highest oil content. The content of ricinolic acid in the collection was from 70.9 to 82.9%. Samples were isolated: К134, К1008, PRL41, К430 with the content of ricinoleic acid more than 80%. The results of the study of all parameters make it possible to isolate valuable technological samples. Sample K1064 with a high technological potential of productivity, with a seed oil content of 57.2%, has a not very high content of ricinoleic acid of 74.3%. Sample K1127 with an oil content of 58.6%, a mass of 1000 seeds of 265 g, a high potential of productive brushes has a wide variation in the arrangement of brushes. Sample K134 with a oil content of 57.1%, ricinoleic acid content of 80.7% has small second-order brushes and can be used as a single-cysts in a thicker seeding.

Does the Contract Type Matter? Impact of Marketing and Production Contracts on Cashew Farmers’ Farm Performance in Ghana

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Dubbert ◽  
Awudu Abdulai
Keyword(s):  
Driving Forces ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Spot Markets ◽  
Switching Regression ◽  
Farm Productivity ◽  
Production Contracts ◽  
Marketing Contracts ◽  
On Farm ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Substantial Heterogeneity

Abstract Many studies show that participation in contract farming has positive impacts on farm productivity and incomes. Most of the literature, however, does not take into account that contracts vary in their specifications, making empirical evidence scarce on the diverse impacts of different types of contracts. In this study, we investigate the driving forces of participation in marketing and production contracts, relative to spot markets. We also study the extent to which different contract types add additional benefits to smallholder farmers, using recent survey data of 389 cashew farmers in Ghana. To account for selection bias arising from observed and unobserved factors, we apply a multinomial endogenous switching regression method and implement a counterfactual analysis. The empirical results demonstrate that farmers who participate in production contracts obtain significantly higher cashew yields, cashew net revenues, and are more food secure compared to spot market farmers. We also find substantial heterogeneity in the impact of marketing and production contracts across scale of operation. Small sized farms that participate in production contracts tend to benefit the most. Marketing contracts, however, do not appear to benefit cashew farmers.

scholarly journals Combined effects of landscape composition and pesticide use on herbivore and pollinator functions in smallholder farms

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Quentin Struelens ◽  
Diego Mina ◽  
Olivier Dangles
Keyword(s):  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Cropping System ◽  
Landscape Composition ◽  
Pesticide Use ◽  
Combined Effects ◽  
Pollinator Abundance ◽  
New Information ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Effect On Yield

Abstract Background Landscape composition has the potential to foster regulating ecosystem services such as pollination and biocontrol in temperate regions. However, most landscape studies do not take pesticide use into account even though it is the main control strategy worldwide and has negative impacts on beneficial insects. Moreover, few studies have explored these combined effects in smallholder cropping system with diverse landscapes and small cultivated fields. Methods We assessed the effect of semi-natural cover and pesticide use on pollinator and herbivore abundances and functions in 9 fields in the Ecuadorian Andes through participatory experiments with smallholder farmers. We performed a path analysis to quantify the effects of landscape and pesticide use on herbivory, pollination and ultimately yield. Results Pesticide use significantly reduced pollinator abundance but had no significant effect on pest abundance. Similarly, we found non-significant effects of landscape composition on either herbivory and pollination. The study also provides new information on understudied Andean lupine’s pests and pollinators, whose application for small farmers is discussed. Finally, we hypothesize that peculiarities of tropical smallholder cropping systems and landscapes could explain the non-significant landscape effects on insect-based processes, which calls for more research in places outside the well-studied temperate region. Conclusions Landscape composition did not show any significant effect on pest and pollinator while pesticide use decreased the abundance pollinators, but with no significant effect on yield. This study also provides information about Andean lupine reproduction and overcompensation mechanisms that could be of interest for local farmers and researchers of this understudied crop.

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