The trend of sugar cane production and refined sugar imports for the period 1960-2010 were analysed and forecasted to year 2020. Results show that sugar cane output will rise to 2.8m tonnes from about 88 thousand hectares of land by year 2020. The total refined sugar that will be available from production and import is about 720 thousand tonnes but with Nigerian population growing at the rate of 2.27%, potential demand for refined sugar will rise to 1.6B tonnes by the year 2020 creating a deficit of over 1.5B tonnes. This require a drastic action which if not taken will lead to sugar crisis. Three major options are advocated in this paper i.e. hectarage expansion, massive funding of research to improve sugar cane production technology such that yield will rise to 150 tonnes per hectare and import expansion. Of the three options, only increase funding of research will encourage local technology and save Nigeria foreign exchange of more than $100B annually and will make Nigeria self-reliant in sugar production by the year 2020 and facilitate the emergence of Nigeria as a developed nation.

The study tried to address optimum production plan for maize-based crop farmers in Niger State, Nigeria. Primary data were collection with the aid of a structured questionnaire. Simple random sampling technique was used in selecting a total of 133 farm households engaged in maize-based crop production. The results showed that maize-based arable crop production in the study area is predominantly male activity, with a mean age of 37 years. The average household size of the respondents was 5 persons. Majority (86.46%) of the farmers had one form of formal education ranging from tertiary, primary, secondary and adult education. Also, 81.95% of the farmers earned less than ₦100,000 per annum from off-farm activities. An average farmer had 20 years of farming experience and cultivated 1.88 ha of land. Linear programming solution prescribed maize/soybeans on 1.1988 ha and maize/cowpea on 0.0468 ha respectively in the optimum farm plans for the farmers. It also indicated gross margin could be increased from ₦120,122.73 ha −1 in the existing crop production plan to ₦211,555.70 ha −1 in the prescribed optimum crop production plan. It was concluded that production inputs were not optimally utilized and that crop mixtures were in a better competitive position than sole crop to increase the farmers' income in maize-based crop production systems in Niger State. It was recommended that farmers should produce crop mixtures maize/soybeans and maize/cowpea based on their hectarage allocation as prescribed in the optimum farm plans and that farm advisory services should give attention to optimum cropping patterns towards promoting increased agricultural productivity among farmers.

The study broadly aims at providing information on the adoption of improved rice varieties among small-scale farmers in Katcha Local Government Area of Niger state, Nigeria. The study was conducted in 2007 cropping season. Data were generated from a sample of 100 farmers using questionnaire. Results indicated a high rate of awareness of improved rice varieties. The main sources of information were radio and extension agents. The major reasons for nonadoption of improved rice varieties are that they are expensive and nonavailability of the input. The study recommends policies that would strengthen the existing media and extension services. Also, improved rice varieties and other input that could enhance farmers output be made available to the farmer at affordable prices.

This study examined gender differentials in technical efficiency among small scale cassava farmers in Abia State, Nigeria. The profitability of cassava production, technical efficiency as well as the factors influencing inefficiency among the farmers in the study area were determined. Well structured questionnaire and interview schedule were employed to obtain primary data from the 133 male and 147 female cassava farmers sampled from two agricultural zones in Abia State. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, farm budgeting technique and stochastic frontier production function. A total of 73.68% of males and 81.63% of females were married, with an average household size of 6 and 5 persons, mean farming experience of 18 years for males and 16 years for females, and cultivated less than 2ha of land. Cassava production was profitable with a gross margin of ₦140,978.28 per hectare for males and ₦131,070.27 per hectare for females. The maximum likelihood estimates showed male farmers were more technically efficient with mean efficiency score of 0.82 compared to 0.78 for female farmers. Factors affecting the technical efficiency of male farmers included farm size, educational level, extension contact, credit amount while that of the female farmers were age, farm size, cooperative membership, land ownership and off-farm income. High cost of acquiring credit facilities and farm inputs, poor road network, inadequate extension services, limited farmland were the major constraints faced by farmers in the study area. It was concluded that male farmers were more technically efficient and also had higher gross income per hectare than their female counterpart. Policies aimed at improving the female farmers’ access to land and other farm inputs should be established and implemented by the government in order to increase efficiency was recommended.

This study examined the influence of agricultural technology utilization on the technical efficiency of cowpea farmers in Niger State, Nigeria. Data were sourced through the use of structured questionnaire administered to 286 respondents. Descriptive statistics, technology utilization index and stochastic frontier analysis models were used for the data analysis. The results revealed that 37.76% of the farmers operated on a low technology utilization range, while 22.38 and 39.86% operated on a moderate and high technology utilization range respectively. Agricultural technology utilization by cowpea farmers showed an inverse relationship with technical efficiency at 1% significant level. The distribution of technical efficiency levels for cowpea farmers indicated that technical efficiency indices ranged from 44% to 96%, with a mean efficiency score of 79%. Major challenges hindering farmers' technology utilization and technical efficiency were lack of credit (83.22%), low income (74.83%), risk of new technology (64.69%), complexity of technology (60.84%), little knowledge of equipment use (57.34%) and use of hired labour (53.15%). The study recommended increased extension support by the Niger State Agricultural and Mechanization Agency directed at cowpea farmers towards ensuring optimal and appropriate utilisation of agricultural technologies such as fertilizers and improved seeds, with the view to enhancing the technical efficiency of cowpea farmers.