Assessment of the factors affecting tea production: a case study of Mityana district

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine the factors affecting tea production basing on the following objectives; to identify the effect of size of land on tea production, to identify the effect of size of labour on tea production, to examine the effect of cost of labour on tea production, to examine the effect of price of tea on tea production, to examine the effect of government intervention on tea production, to examine the effect of quality of fertilizers on tea production, to identify whether extension services have an effect on tea production, to identify the effect of landform on tea production and to identify the effect of years of experience of the farmer on tea production. Results revealed that 53.3 percent of the respondents had at least attained primary education, 43.3 percent were married and most of them (43.3 percent) were in the age range of 40-50 years. Farm size, access to planting materials and education level were recorded as the most common factors influencing tea production. Destruction from pigs (50% of responses) was recorded as the major production constraint as limited land, low yield, water logging of swamps in rainy seasons, limited access to planting materials, pests and diseases, poor soils and labor intensiveness of the crop were also noted for challenging successful tea production in the study area