AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY, EFFICIENCY, AND SOIL FERTILITY MANAGEMENT PRACTICES OF VEGETABLE GROWERS IN THE UPPER EAST REGION OF GHANA

Vijay K. BHASIN (University Of Cape Coast)

The study examined the relationship among agricultural productivity, technical efficiency, and soil fertility management practices of growers of onion, pepper and tomato in the Upper East Region of Ghana. To solve food insecurity problem, more land should be brought under the cultivation of tomatoes, more labour should be devoted to the production of pepper, and capital-intensive techniques should be adopted for the cultivation of onion. There is relatively more scope for the improvement of technical efficiency of growers of tomato than the growers of onion and pepper. The significant determinants of farm specific technical efficiency of growers of onion are farm experience, distance of the farm from the house of the farmer and extension services. The significant determinants of the farm specific technical efficiency of the growers of pepper seems to be the age of the farmer, distance of the farm from the market, and extension services. The significant determinants of the farm specific technical efficiency of the growers of tomato are the age of the farmer, level of education, distance of the farm from the house of the farmer, and soil fertility management practices. The policy makers should concentrate on these human-capital, institutional and socio-economic variables in order to solve food insecurity problem in West Africa.