Assessment of economic of Fadama land Rice (Oryza sativa) production in Katcha Local Government Area of Niger State Nigeria.

Abstract

The study assessed the economics of low land rice production in Katcha Local Government Area of Niger state. For the purpose of achieving the study objectives 90 respondents were sampled randomly from 10 villages in two districts. Input- output data were collected in 2009 production season using interview schedules. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and farm budgetary techniques. The study revealed that majority of the respondents i.e 63.4% were within the age range of 21- 40 years. Majority of the respondents i.e 60% has family size between 6- 15 persons. More so, majority of the respondents i.e 97.8% acquired Quranic education only. The analysis of the sources used revealed that fewer hectares of land were used. The common method of land tenure was through inheritance. The family labour were mostly used. The result of the farm budget analysis revealed that the average total cost of low land rice production was N12,356.0 per ha. Variable costs accounted for 98.3% of the average total cost. The fixed cost accounted for only 1.69% of the total average cost of the production. The production of low land rice is profitable in the study area. The gross ratio was 0.53. The major problem faced by respondents were problem of high cost of fertilizer and quelea bird. It was recommended that government should subsidize the cost of fertilizer, respondents should endevaour to send their children to the rice field as early as 6:00am to send the bird away from rice farm particularly when rice is at milking stage.