Economies of scale and production efficiency in smallscale rice farmers in Nigeria: empirical approach for hybrid and local rice.

The study examined the economies of scale and technical efficiency of small-scale farmers in Edo State, Nigeria. The data used in the study were mainly from primary sources. The data were collected from 200 rice farmers selected using multistage sampling technique and analyzed using descriptive statistics, and stochastic frontier model. Production functions among hybrid rice and inbred (local) rice producers were estimated independently using the Battese and Coelli (1995) model to specify a stochastic frontier Cobb-Doglas production function with behaviour inefficiency component to estimate all parameters together and the level of significance in one-step maximum likelihood estimation. The returns-to-scale (RTS) for the production function showed that the farmers operated in the irrational zone (stage I) of the production surface having RTS of 0.676 and 1.299 for inbred and hybrid species respectively. The mean technical efficiency of 0.317 and 0.925 for inbred and hybrid varieties respectively were obtained from the data analysis, indicating that the hybrid sample farmers were relatively more efficient technically than the inbred rice farmers. The mean technical efficiency of the farms was estimated as 1.263. This means that average rice farm in the sample area has production that are about 26% above the minimum defined by the frontier. However, the result of the analysis indicated that presence of technical inefficiency had effects in the food crop production as depicted by the significant estimated gamma coefficient of each model, the generalized likelihood ratio test and the predicted technical efficiencies within the farmers. Improved variety of rice as well as the technology improves the efficiency of the farmers.KEYWORDS: hybrid, inbreed, output, inefficiency and Edo State

Structure, conduct and performance of Plantain Marketing in Edo State, Nigeria

The study examined the conduct, structure and performance of plantain marketing in Edo State. The objectives of the study were to examine the structure and conduct of plantain marketing system, assess its performance and estimate the cost and returns in plantain marketing. Data for the study were collected using a well-structured questionnaire administered to 240 marketers of plantain selected using a two\u2013stage sampling process involving random and purposive sampling techniques. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, gross margin analysis, marketing margins, marketing efficiency and the Gini-coefficient. The results indicate that the market was characterized with many buyers and sellers reflecting a pure competitive structure, prices were determined mainly by factors such as purchase price, ability of the buyers to haggle, supply and demand forces and cost of transportation. Market associations existed among the marketers but only 32.42% belonged to such associations. Most of the respondents agreed that they used both open display and persuasive efforts to attract customers. The value of the Gini coefficient (0.677) indicates some level of inequality suggesting the presence of market concentration among the respondents. The results indicated a net profit of N15.70 per kg of raw plantain. The marketing margin of #32.1 and efficiency of 95.79% indicate reasonably good performance

Impact Of Price And Total Expenditure On Food Demand In South-Western Nigeria

This study examined the impact of price and total expenditure on food demand in Edo, Delta and Lagos states of Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique was used to collect cross-sectional data from eight hundred and twelve (812) households for the study. Both descriptive statistics and the Linear Approximate Almost Ideal Demand System (LA/AIDS) model as inferential statistics were used to estimate the responsiveness of demand for food to changes in prices, expenditures and incomes. The study found out that the majority of the household heads were young male, with small (1-5 members) to medium (6-10 members) family size and lived in urban centers. Though rice constituted the largest share of the household total food expenditure, in both rural and urban centres, income did not have much weight in its consumption, with less substitutability in response to changes in own-price and has changed from being a luxury to being a necessity. While the low-income and rural households spent more of their income on food, the share of rice and yam in the household's budgets was higher at higher income levels while that of cassava, a less expensive source of calories, was lower among the high income and relatively affluent urban households. The budget share of meat and fish, a more expensive source of calories, being mainly protein sources, was higher among the low-income and less affluent households in the urban centres. The result of the LA/AIDS showed that, in terms of own-price elasticity, the compensated own-price elasticity for rice (-1.0659) was the most elastic, followed by garri (-0.9655), yam (-0.5792), other cereals (-0.5611), and meat/fish (-0.4440). Rice, garri and yam were the main Nigerian staples. The demand for these food items in Nigeria is not so much a matter of price, rather, it is a phenomenon linked with the ease of preparation, household characteristics and urban lifestyles. To meet with the present demand, Nigeria needs to increase the production of these food items

Profitability analysis of cassava processing in Uhunmwonde Local Government Area, Edo State, Nigeria

This study examined the profitability of cassava processing in Uhunmwonde Local Government Area, Edo State, Nigeria. The specific objective was to estimate costs and returns of processing cassava into different products. Two-stage sampling technique was employed to select 107 processors from seven districts in the study area known for high cassava processing activities. Data were collected using structured questionnaire alongside scheduled interview. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, net return and benefit-cost ratio. The study revealed that 63 % of the respondents were females and 37%were within the age range of 41-50 years with an average of 44 years. Also, 66.36% were married and a mean household size of 5 persons. About 76.64% had formal education with an average processing experience of 18 years. The study further revealed that garri was the most significant product, followed by fufu, starch, abacha, flour and chips. Analysis of the costs and returns revealed that processing cassava to garri gave the highest gross margin, net return and benefit-cost ratio of ₦3,689.30, ₦3,306.79 and 1.81 respectively per week, though processing cassava to the six different products was profitable and viable. The study also shows that the major constraints faced by processors in the area include lack of government aid, lack of storage facilities and inadequate capital. It was therefore recommended that farmers should process their cassava tubers into any of the identified products before sales, especially garri.Keywords: Cassava Chips, Flour Fufu, Starch, Abacha, Gross Margin, Benefic-cost rati

Co- Integration and Causality Analysis in Major Natural Rubber Markets of Nigeria

The study investigated market integration of natural rubber across three major State markets, namely Edo, Delta and Akwa-Ibom, of the Nigeria us~ng Johansen Co-integration test, and Granger Causality by VECM. Empirical results for average monthly retail price data (N/kg) of natural rubber, covering the period January, 2005 to December, 2015 (11 years) indicated that Price series were not stationary in their level form. The Delta State price appeared to respond faster to changes than the Edo and Akwa-Ibom price. The study also showed the existence of co-integration among the studied markets. Granger causality showed unidirectional causality between Akwa-Ibom and Delta bidirectional for the other two market pairs. The significant coefficient of the error correction term showed immediate adjustment to changes in the longrun equilibrium