Potential and constraints of fruit trees in Coast region in Tanzania: a case study of Mkuranga and Bagamoyo districts.
Madulu R. B., Chalamila B. N.
Author Affiliation: Mikocheni Agricultural Research Institute, P.O. Box 6226, Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania.
8th African Crop Science Society Conference, El-Minia, Egypt, 27-31 October 2007 : 1399-1401
Abstract : Coconut (cocos nucifera L) is dominant tree crop in Coast region and has for many years been used for food and generation of income. However, recently farmers in Mkuranga district are experiencing rapid decline in coconut production due to Lethal Disease (LD) but to a lesser extent Bagamoyo district. The impact of the disease has been reflected in farmers' income and livelihood. This paper explains the contribution of the fruit/tree crops to household's income as well as socio-economic potential and constraints of these crops in Mkuranga and Bagomoyo districts. Participatory techniques such as village meetings, pair wise, matrix and direct scoring/ranking and structured questionnaires were used to collect information from 118 farmers. The result indicated that in severely disease affected areas of Mkuranga coconut is no longer considered as a source of household income instead alternative fruit/tree crops such as cashew, oil palm, citrus, mango and pineapple contribute about 56% and 81% of the total household's income of farmers in Mkuranga and Bagamoyo districts respectively. However, production of these fruit/tree crops is constrained by a number of factors including lack of reliable markets, lack of improved production and processing know how, lack of improved varieties and incidences of pests and diseases.