Authors: Akinbode S.O; Dipeolu A.O; Ayinde I.A
African Journal of Agricultural Research Vol. 6(28), pp. 6027-6035, 26 November, 2011
Abstract
The need to improve efficiency of rice production is accentuated through high level of importation of rice needs in Nigeria. This paper examined technical, allocative and economic efficiencies in Ofada rice farming in Ogun state, South-West Nigeria and determined factors affecting them among others.
A total of 192 rice farmers were sampled through a multi-stage sampling procedure. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) and tobit regression analysis. The average areas cultivated to rice was 0.86 ha. Majority (60%) of the farmers had contact with extension workers while 56% had no access to credit. Bird invasion, finance and unavailability of tractors were the most striking problem confronting Ofada rice farming in the opinion of the farmers. The return to scale value of 1.29 estimated from the SFA revealed that farmers were operating in stage I of the production surface, hence, the need to employ more resources in order to maximize benefits. The mean technical, allocative and economic efficiencies were 0.726, 0.928 and 0.674, respectively. It was therefore concluded that rice farmers can still increase output or save cost without the need to change existing technology. Furthermore, extension contact and education were found to be very crucial to efficient rice production.
Key words: efficiencies, production, rice, output, return-to-scale, Nigeria.