The significance of agricultural intensification on paddy productivity in Mbarali district, Tanzania

The growing literature on the importance of agricultural intensification on crop productivity is widely recognized. An increasing market demand for rice has promoted an increased use of farm inputs to improve its productivity. This raises the need to understand the role of agricultural intensification on paddy productivity in Mbarali district. Rice has emerged as a significant cash crop in Mbarali district and has encouraged high involvement in its production for both consumption and sale purposes so as to meet the growing market demand in both domestic and world-wide markets. Both the quantitative and qualitative methods were employed. Secondary data were collected through documentary review while primary data were collected through household interviews, focus group discussions, key informant interviews and field observations. The quantitative data were analysed using SPSS and Microsoft Excel while the qualitative data were analysed by content analysis. A simple linear regression analysis was performed to understand the statistical relationship between agricultural intensification and paddy productivity. The results show that there was statistically positive significant relationship between agricultural intensification and paddy productivity. About 87% of respondents indicated that they have applied farm inputs that led to increased paddy productivity among households in Mbarali district. The government and the private sectors are encouraged to subsidize farm inputs to promote a more improved paddy production in the district.