Economics of resource use in small-scale rice production: A case study of Niger state, Nigeria

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper analyses the use of resources and farm income among small-scale rice farmers in Niger State. A sample set of 120 farm households was selected using a simple random sampling technique to generate primary data. The average farm size was 2.8ha and the average yield was 5,041.47 kg/ha. The average variable cost, average fixed cost and average net farm income per hectare were N28,839.30, N3,160.45 and N30,463.10, respectively. The major factors that significantly influenced the level of technical inefficiency with their corresponding maximum likelihood estimates were age (0.0065), household size (0.0069), farming experience (0.0001), extension contact (0.0177) and membership of a co-operative (0.2824). Pests and diseases, floods, non-passable roads and inadequate finance were the major problems of rice production. Based on these findings, it was concluded that the study area had a great potential to increase rice production and a farmer’s income if efforts could be made for widespread adoption of new technologies and by addressing those constraints herewith identified. However, an effort should also be made to mobilize and encourage farmers to form co-operatives to enable farmers to pool their resources and increase the scale of operations. Furthermore, the government should make production inputs like fertilizer, improved seeds and agro-chemicals available to farmers at the right time and at subsidized rates because production inputs were some of the most important limiting resources that adversely affected rice production in the study area.