Adoption Of Improved Technologies In Coconut Production By Smallholder Farmers In West District, Zanzibar

ABSTRACT

Despite the initiative being made by the government and other stakeholders to promote improved technologies in coconut production among the smallholder farmers in West District in Zanzibar, its yield remains very low. This study intended to assess the adoption of improved coconut production among smallholder farmers in West District. Specifically, the study objectives were to: assess farmers‟ attitude towards improved technologies; assess level of coconut yield before and after the year 2000 of adoption technologies, identify the challenges of using adopted technologies, determine the impact of adoption of improved technologies on the level of coconut production and determine factors influencing coconut production among smallholder farmers. A total of 100 respondents were involved in this study. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 16. The findings indicate that smallholder farmers had negative attitude towards improved technologies for coconut production. The mean yield of coconut was 41.08 and 17.74 nuts /palm/year before and after adoption of improved technologies respectively. This indicates that there is a decrease in production inspite of the adoption of the new technologies. The major challenges for using adopted technologies among the smallholder farmers were unaffordable of fertilizer, low replacement spacing, scarcity of land and difficult to control coreid bug. Factors such as income from the coconuts; farm size and education significantly (p< 0.05) influenced the adoption of improved technologies on coconut production. The study, therefore, concludes that adoption of improved technologies had reduced coconut production. The study recommends that the Government under the Ministry of Agriculture should support training; dissemination improved technologies, extension officers and smallholder farmers. The farmers should also be motivated in coconut production through reducing problems hindering production such as pest control and fertilizer uses.