369051

Evaluating the nexus between farm size, fertilizer input and technical efficiency of rice production in north west, Nigeria: A parametric approach

Article

Last updated: 04 Jan 2025

Subjects

-

Tags

Agricultural economics and extension

Abstract

Rice contributes significantly to reducing food insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria. This study evaluates the nexus between farm size, fertilizer input, and technical efficiency (TE) of rice production in Nigeria. Data covered 200 rice farmers proportionally distributed in Kano and Kaduna states. The TE levels were obtained using a parametric approach such as the stochastic production efficiency frontier model (SPEFM) and descriptive statistics. The production constraints of rice farmers were evaluated using PCA (Principal Component Analysis). The average TE score of rice producers is 53.13% leaving an efficiency gap of 46.87% for improvement. Inferential analysis showed that the significant predictors influencing TE of rice production include fertilizer, farm size, agrochemicals, seed, and family labour. The addition of the first-order of the production predictors, which is called the scale elasticity, shows increasing RTS (return to scale), which is estimated at 1.958. The sources of TIE (technical inefficiency) of rice production were age, experience in rice farming, education level, members of cooperatives, and amount of credit accessed. The coefficient of variance ratio open paren gamma close paren the gamma is 0.7827; this connotes that 78.27% of variations in rice output were due to differences in TE. The major production constraints facing rice producers include lack of access to farmland (1st), high cost of fertilizers (2nd), and lack of agrochemicals (3rd). The cost of fertilizers should be reduced and made affordable for increased rice productivity and efficiency. Secondly, easy access to farmland is necessary in terms of policy formulations and implementations.

DOI

10.21608/svuijas.2024.292243.1372

Keywords

Nexus, Farm Size, Fertilizer Input, Technical efficiency, Rice Production, Nigeria

Authors

First Name

O.O.

Last Name

Alabi

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Department of Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Abuja, PMB 117 Gwagwalada-Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria

Email

omotayoalabi@yahoo.com

City

-

Orcid

0000-0002-8395-9775

First Name

I.

Last Name

Maharazu

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Department of Agricultural-Economics, Faculty of Agriculture, Kaduna State University (KASU), Kaduna State, Nigeria

Email

maharazu_ibrahim@kasu.edu.ng

City

Kaduna State

Orcid

0000-0002-0968-6112

First Name

J.S.

Last Name

Aluwong

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Department of Agricultural-Extension and Management, School of Agricultural Technology, Nuhu Bamali Polytechnic, Zaria, Samaru Kataf Campus, Kaduna State, Nigeria.

Email

jeremiahaluwong1@gmail.com

City

Kaduna State

Orcid

0000-0001-8462-538X

First Name

J.O.

Last Name

Bako

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Department of Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Abuja, PMB 117 Gwagwalada-Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria.

Email

jerrybako080301@mail.com

City

Abuja

Orcid

0009-0001-2930-5751

First Name

A.K.

Last Name

Muhammad

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Federal University of Agriculture, Zuru, PMB 28, Zuru, Kebbi State, Nigeria

Email

alfukabara@gmail.com

City

Kebbi State

Orcid

0009-0005-3765-8097

Volume

6

Article Issue

3

Related Issue

45933

Issue Date

2024-07-01

Receive Date

2024-05-24

Publish Date

2024-07-14

Page Start

59

Page End

66

Print ISSN

2636-3801

Online ISSN

2636-381X

Link

https://svuijas.journals.ekb.eg/article_369051.html

Detail API

https://svuijas.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=369051

Order

369,051

Type

Original Article

Type Code

1,132

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

SVU-International Journal of Agricultural Sciences

Publication Link

https://svuijas.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

Evaluating the nexus between farm size, fertilizer input and technical efficiency of rice production in north west, Nigeria: A parametric approach

Details

Type

Article

Created At

25 Dec 2024