Assessing profitability of lemon production on smallholder farmers in Nyero sub-county, Kumi district

Abstract

Citrus farming is a smallholder enterprise in Eastern Uganda that has been prioritized and has received significant strategic support from government. However, farmers are variably engaging and benefiting from it probably due to limited information to the farmers. This study aimed at assessing profitability of lemon farming, to identify factors affecting its profitability and the challenges affecting lemon production. The study involved citrus farming households where their landholding size, their average monthly income, number of lemon trees posed were part. Cross sectional data were obtained and analyzed using SPSS version 20, excel and gross margin analysis techniques. Generally, in the sample population size of 30 respondents, lemon farming was characterized by 60% males and 40% females. A majority of the respondents (46%) ranged within 35 to 5 years of age. Results also showed that 66.7% of the respondents were married, 36.7% attained secondary education. The main factors affecting profitability were middlemen and farm size. Lemon farming is a profitable venture with the gross profit of shs129,973.3 and profit margin of 19.2%, which can lead to improvement in smallholder farm incomes and gainful employment to the people. The study thus concludes that, even at a small scale, lemon production is a profitable venture to the farmers and it calls for more attention both by government and other organization to invest in the enterprise.