This study evaluated resource use efficiency and profitability analysis of tomato production in Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria. The specific objectives were to: determine the socio-economic characteristics of tomato farmers; analyze the cost, returns and profitability of tomato production, evaluate factors influencing output of tomato production, estimate resource use efficiency of tomato production, and identify the constraints facing tomato farmers in the study area. Multi-stage sampling technique was used. Primary data were collected through the use of well-structured questionnaires administered to 100 sampled tomato farmers. Data were analyzed using the following tools of analysis; descriptive statistics, gross margin analysis, financial analysis, Cobb-Douglas production functional model and resource use efficiency index. The results show that 83% of sampled tomato farmers were male. About 54% of the sampled respondents were above 41years of age. Majority 79% of the sampled respondents had less than 5 members per household. The results of costs and return analysis show that total average revenue realized by tomato farmers in the study area was about N146,430.00 and total variable cost was N23,057.30. The cost of labour was about N 16,416 representing 70% of the proportion of the cost of tomato production in the study area. The gross margin obtained was N123,372.7 with operating ratio of 1.58 and rate of return on investment of 5.38 respectively. Factors influencing total output of tomato in the study area were household size (P<0.01), farm size (P<0.01), seed input (P<0.05), and labour input (P<0.01). Seed input, labour input, and chemical inputs were underutilized. The results further show that the sampled farmers encountered the following constraints in the cause of tomato production in the study area, land tenure system, lack of good road, inadequate capital, high cost of input and lack of price control. Therefore, the following recommendations were made; financial institutions should provide affordable financial support to tomato farmers and also encourage female farmers to participate in tomato production, improved seed varieties should be made available to farmers for increase in productivity, agricultural extension agents should be provided and organize training on post-harvest practices in order to increase farmers’ incomes and minimize tomatoes wastages in the study area, tomato farmers should form themselves into cooperatives in order for them to assess inputs and subsidies from the government, and also pool their resources together for easy access to inputs and negotiate price.
This study evaluated profit efficiency of soybeans production in Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling technique was adopted for this study. Data were collected through the use of well-structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was distributed to 188 sampled soybean farmers in the study area. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, gross margin analysis, financial analysis, Cobb-Douglas production functional model. and stochastic frontier profit model. The results of the analysis show that about 25% of the sampled farmers were within the age bracket of 31-40 years, while 56% fell within the age ranges of 41-50 years. The mean age of the sampled soybean farmers was estimated to be 44 years. The results further revealed that majority 82.4% of the sampled respondents were male farmers. About 44.1% of the sampled farmers had no formal education. Majority (78.7%) of the sampled soybeans farmers had a household size range from 1-5 persons, the average farming experience of the farmers in the study area was 7 years. About 80.9% of soybean farmers had farm size between 1-2 ha. The total variable cost on average was N 130,184.51 with an estimated average total revenue of N340,250.00. The gross margin obtained was N210,063.49. The operating ratio and rate of return on investments were 0.383 and 1.613 respectively, this result implies that soybean production is profitable in the study area. The profit efficiency level attained by soybean farmers was 52% leaving a gap of 48%. The statistically significant factors influencing profit efficiency were price of fertilizer (P<0.1), price of chemical (P<0.1), price of labour (P<0.01), unit price of soybean (P<0.01), and total revenue (P<0.01). The statistically significant factors influencing profit inefficiency were household size (P<0.1), educational level (P<0.1), cooperative association (P<0.01), farming experience (P<0.05), access to credit (P<0.05), and price information (P<0.05). The soybean farmers encountered the following problems in the cause of production: inconsistent government policy and outbreak of diseases, lack of hired labour, high cost of inputs, inadequate capital, lack of extension services and unavailability of improved seed varieties. Therefore, this study recommends that government should provide farm tractors and other farm implements to ease the drudgery in soybean production and reduce the cost of labour incur by farmers, market information should be made available for farmers, farmers should be encouraged to expand their scale of production by providing them with production inputs like fertilizer, chemical and credit facilities in order to have increased yield, government should also disseminate price information through extension agents, social media, and mass media (Radio, and Television news) to farmers in order to teach farmers how to apply fertilizer and chemical appropriately.
This study evaluated technical efficiency of cowpea production in Nasarawa State, Nigeria. The specific objectives were to determine socio-economic characteristics of the cowpea farmers, estimate costs and returns of cowpea production, evaluate the technical efficiency of cowpea production, evaluate the determinants of technical efficiency of cowpea production, and identify the constraints militating against cowpea production in the study area. Multi-stage sampling technique was adopted and employed. Data for this study was collected from the primary sources through well-structured questionnaires. The results of the analysis show that majority (79%) of the sampled cowpea farmers were male, the average age of the sampled farmers was 45 years indicating that they are still active and agile operating at a small scale level of 2.14 ha farm size. The study further shows that cowpea production is a profitable agribusiness with 2.8% return on investment. Factors that are statistically significant influencing the total output of cowpea production by the famers in the study area were seed (P<0.05), organic manure (P<0.01), chemical fertilizer (P<0.01) and agrochemical (P<0.05) while the factors influencing inefficiency of cowpea production were sex (P<0.01) marital status (P<0.01), education level of farmers (P<0.01), occupation (P<0.01) and household size (0.01). The farmers were able to attain 78% level of technical efficiency with inefficiency gap of 22% of inefficiency that needs to be filled. The cowpea farmers were faced with following constraints: pest and insect problem, poor storage facilities, poor marketing, access to credit facilities and poor infrastructure. Therefore, the study recommends that farmers should be encouraged to participate more in cowpea production since its production is profitable in the study area, farmers should also be provided with subsidized production inputs by government or non-governmental organizations like insecticides, herbicides, and credit facilities to increase their level of production capacity that will lead to increase in total output, income as well as improved welfare that will liberate them from poverty and make them food secured in the study area.
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