Research PapersThe Research Paper Series (RPS) are papers produced from the small research grants process or from the regional projects. These papers are subjected to three external reviewers and a positive review from two of them is required before a paper can be published under this series.
Research Paper
Assessment of Constraints in Technology Transfer System and Policies which Limit the Realisation of High Green Leaf Production in the Smallholder Tea Sector of the Kenya Tea Industry: An Empirical Analysis of Economic Efficiency and Supply of Tea Part II» Philip Okinda Owuor, ATPS, 2005. ISBN: 9966-916-82-2Technological recommendations for maximizing green leaf production have been made available to smallholder farmers by the Tea Research Foundation of Kenya (TRFK) through various publications. Indeed TRFK has released clones, which are yielding in excess of 4000 kg mt/ha. Consequently, the smallholder tea areas are planted with these clone compared to the estate sub sector with large areas of land planted with old seedling tea cultivars, yielding lower than 2500 kg mt/ha per year. Nevertheless, tea productivity in the smallholder sub sector has been relatively lower than in the estates sub sector over the years and the yields are still well below potential. The Kenya Government projects to produce 350 thousand metric tones by the year 2008, through putting emphasis on efficient use of strategic inputs such as fertilisers and adoption of intensive technologies of tea production to enhance yields. This study investigated the efficiency of adoption of tea production technologies and some policy factors contributing to low tea productivity in the smallholder tea sub sector. Read more
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