Challenges for small-scale rice farmers: a case study of Ulanga District-Morogoro, Tanzania

Abstract

Rice is the second most important crop mostly used as food and cash crop; however small-scale farmers in the study were faced by the number of challenges in the production of rice. The main objective of this study was to identify challenges for small-scale rice farmers in Ulanga District. The sample size of the study was 100 respondents, the quantitative approach had been used for analyzing data such as socio–demographic characteristics and compiling simple statistics and qualitative approach was used to capture small-scale rice famers’ responses. The study revealed that plant disease was a setback to small-scale farmers in the village because it reduced yields from the production. Most Farmers used seeds from the previous year's harvest while few used improved rice varieties. The use of hand hoe, oxen plough, and lack of credits reduced the timeliness of farm operations and limited the efficacy of cultivation and weeding.