Determinants of technical efficiency in cotton production in the southern cotton growing zone of Nigeria: A stochastic production frontier approach

Abstract

Abstract. Olatidoye MS, Alimi T, Akinola AA. 2018. Quality assessment of the physico-chemical properties of vermiwash produced from different sources during successive storage periods. Asian J Agric 2: 58-63. The study investigated on socio-economic factors and estimated the technical efficiency indices and factors influencing technical efficiency of the sampled cotton farmers in the Southern Cotton growing zone of Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique was employed to select a total sample of 300 cotton farmers. The study made use of only primary data which was collected through the aid of a well-structured questionnaire. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and stochastic frontier production parametric model. The results of the descriptive statistics showed that majority (83%) of the cotton farmers in the study area were males while the mean age of the respondents was 49 years. The average household size was 8 persons per household and majority (69%) of the respondents had formal education. Majority of the respondents (59%) had no access to credit facilities while majority (80.4%) of the cotton farmers had reasonable years of experience ranging between 11 and above in cotton production. Furthermore, the study found that the technical efficiency of the farmers range from 0.35 and 0.99 with a mean of 0.79. This indicates ample opportunity for farmers to increase their productivity through improvement in their technical efficiency. Seed, fertilizer, pesticides and farm size were found to be statistically significant and positively related to farmers’ output while education, credit, extension contact and farming experience of the respondents negatively influenced farmers’ technical inefficiency. The farmers therefore need to increase their output through more intensive use of seed, land, pesticides and fertilizers.

Yield Gaps and Factors Affecting Production Inefficiency in Smallholder Oil Palm Plantations in Muaro Jambi District Jambi Province

“…But, and there is no significant yield difference between junior high school educated farmers and farmers with elementary school education. This result is in line with [12], [13] and [17] that education will affect the managerial ability of farmers so that it has a positive effect on yield.…”

“…Likewise, Alamsyah [11] found a significant difference between production and income earned by farmers at various levels of oil palm plantation management. While plantation management practices, plantation management is also strongly influenced by the characteristics of farmers, including age, experience, formal education [12]; [13], number of family members [12]; [13], membership in cooperatives and access to credit [13],…”

Maximum likelihood estimation technique of grasscutter (Thryonomys swinderianus) production in Osun State, Nigeria

“…The situation remains so, partly because most farmers lack the technical knowledge, managerial ability and have failed to seek the counsels of experts which in turn limit their ability to maximize output that can translate into huge capital. This was further corroborated by the submissions of Akinola et al (2015) and Olatidoye et al (2018a), that one of the most serious constraints of agricultural growth in Nigeria is the inefficient use of productive resources and that considerable growth can be achieved by simply improving the level of efficiency in resource use.…”

Economic Analysis of Grasscutter Production (Thryonomys swinderianus) in Osun State, Nigeria: A Case of Data Envelopment Approach

“…It is a heavily built animal with round muzzle, small round ears, short tail and harsh bristly fur. Apart from being the most preferred, it is the most expensive bush meat in most West African countries, Nigeria inclusive [4]. It contributes to both local and foreign earnings in some of these countries.…”

“…However, it has been observed that one of the most serious constraints of agricultural growth in Nigeria is the inefficient use of productive resources and that considerable growth can be achieved by simply improving the level of efficiency in resource use [7,8]. Studies conducted by Akinola et al [2] and Olatidoye et al [4] revealed that Grasscutter production in Southwest, Nigeria, is mainly at subsistence level and output is relatively low despite its relatively competitive prices in both local and international market. It is therefore obvious that with the ever increasing human population and obvious protein shortage in Africa, an understanding of the efficiency of Grasscutter production in Nigeria, is most opportune.…”