Pre- and Post-Harvest Practices and Varietal Preferences of Tomato in Ghana

Tailored interventions in the tomato sector require current information on production and marketing systems along with constraints faced by stakeholders. We conducted this study to understand practices, stakeholders’ varietal preferences, market trends, challenges crop’s value chains. A multistage sampling method coupled a random walk was used identify survey locations 180 respondents across seven regions Ghana. The showed that predominantly produced male (81%) literate farmers (84%). Tomato were smallholder generally cultivating less than five acres. mainly cultivated under rainfed conditions. Farmers both bought seeds their own saved for production. Bono, Greater Accra, Upper East region largely improved varieties, while Bono local varieties. Across regions, being having access irrigation facilities increased probability of using varieties 19% 51%, respectively. most important farmer preference criteria included high yield, medium large fruit size rounded shape, red color, time maturity disease resistance. major diseases, pests, poor water irrigation. average yield varied from 6902.26 kg/ha Region 16,213.98 East. exclusively fresh market. low producer prices, demand produce, competition other farmers. This provides key improve chains guide introduction or breeding