Irish-Potato Farming in Plateau State, Nigeria: A Profitability Analysis

Notable efforts are on-going to improve Irish potato production in Plateau State, the major producer of the crop in Nigeria. However, little attention has been given to the profitability of the enterprise while the determinants of profitability level are scanty in the literature. Thus, paper analyses the profitability of Irish-potato farming using primary data from 252 Irish potato farmers in Plateau State, Nigeria. Cost structure and profitability level of Irish potato farming were investigated using farm budgeting technique while probit regression model was used to examine the determinants of profitability level of Irish potato farms. Irish potato farming was found to be profitable with most (53.97%) farmers at high profitability level. The net farm income was ₦604, 245.81 per hectare with returns per naira spent of ₦1.70. The cost structure showed that costs of seeds, labour and fertilizer made up the largest share of the total cost of production per hectare. The probability that a farm will be at high profitability level was determined by agrochemicals, sex, farm size and labour at 1% level, respectively. It was concluded that increasing agrochemicals, reducing farm size and labour and being a male farmer will improve profitability level of Irish potato farms. This study recommended that increased use of agrochemicals and more efficient use of labour and farm land be encouraged among potato farmers increase their profitability level

TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY OF IRISH POTATO PRODUCTION: A CASE STUDY FROM NIGERIA

Research background: Irish-potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is one of the main root crops in Nigeria with the potential to improve food security, income and human nutrition. However, farmers are losing outputs due to inefficiency in resource use, whereas, past studies on Irish potato in Nigeria have not focussed on efficiency of the enterprise. Purpose of the article: This study is aimed at measuring technical efficiency to provide a way of quantifying and comparing the performance of each farmer, and identification of factors responsible for variation in technical efficiency. Hence, technical efficiency, and its determinants and returns to scale of Irish-potato farmers were analysed Methods: Primary data was collected from 260 Irish potato farmers using a structured questionnaire through a multi-stage sampling method. Descriptive statistics (frequency, mean, standard deviation and percentages) and a two-stage estimation procedure to fit the stochastic frontier production function for Irish potato farmers were used. Findings & value added: Results indicated that the farmers have a mean age of 48 years which indicates an agile workforce. Over 80% of the farmers possessed some form of formal education, predominantly at the secondary level. The efficiency estimates indicated a disparity in technical efficiency among farmers with a mean technical efficiency of 89±4%. The farmers were producing at decreasing returns to scale. At the same time, socio-economic factors of gender, extension contact, membership in cooperative society and farming experience were positive determinants of farmers’ technical efficiency, while household size was negative. Thus, being a male farmer, farming experience, encouraging contact between farmers and extension workers as well as membership in cooperative societies, while reducing household size can improve technical efficiency in Irish potato production