Abstract:
The subsistence production is chosen by farmers because it is subjectively the best
option. However, subsistence farming on small and fragmented plots risks not
reaching even farmers’ own food requirements, let alone producing a surplus.
Therefore, it would have been expected that farmers would be commercialising
production of profitable food crops. One of the more profitable food crops than many
others as studies show is round potato (Solanum tuberosum). Nonetheless, the
extent to which farmers have commercialised round potato production was not
known. This study was then undertaken to fill this knowledge gap by analysing the
proportion of land allotted to round potato production and the extent to which the
crop was oriented towards the market by using the commercialisation index. A
sample of 510 farmers was visited from three districts of the southern highlands of
Tanzania. Results showed that round potato production was highly commercialised.
This was evidence by the proportion of land that was allotted for round potato
cultivation and the commercialisation index. About 20 to 67% of the total land under
cultivation was allotted to round potato production and about 88% of the produce
was sold. However, both the cultivated land and output per capita were small.
