ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF IRISH POTATO PRODUCTION IN PLATEAU STATE
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF IRISH POTATO PRODUCTION IN PLATEAU STATE
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Date
2005-09
Authors
OJO, AYODELE MATTHEW
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Abstract
ABSTRACT
The study investigated the economics of Irish potato production in
Plateau State. Data were collected from 120 farmers selected at random
from 12 villages of three LGAs purposively selected out of the six potato
producing areas of the state. The data were gathered through the use of
structured questionnaires during the 2003 dry and 2004 rainy seasons. The
tools of analysis used were simple descriptive statistics, farm budgeting
technique and linear programming models.
The result of the study indicated that the potato farmers were
predominantly small-scale and fall between the age-group of 40-49 years
with mean age of 41 years. However, the active and virile age groups of
20-29 and 30-39 were relatively low. The dominant cropping patterns were
sole potato and potato/maize enterprises practiced in the dry and rainy
season respectively.
The optimum farm plans of the basic models revealed that higher
productivity and more revenue could be achieved over the unplanned farms
by reorganizing resources and activities in the potato-maize production
system. The resource-use efficiencies showed that land and family labour
were not critical factors and that they were in surplus. However, operating
capital was a critical factor, implying that farmers lack enough capital to
implement an organized farm plan. The sensitivity analysis showed that a
20% increase in the cost of fertilizer reduced farm income by 5%, 9% and
10% in the 3 LGAs while a subsequent increases in both input and output
prices improved farmers income appreciably.
Policy choices should therefore be geared towards encouraging
more youths into farming by establishing programmes like graduate
farming scheme. Research and extention intervention is required in the area
of training farmers on how to re-organize farming activities and resources
like labour and land to increase farmers income. To arrest the problem of
high cost of production, government effort should focus on ways of
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financing small scale farming, through coorperative saving schemes and
input supply arrangements. Finally National Root Crop Research Institute
should collaborate with International Potato Centre in the area of integrated
pest and disease management to reduce the high rate potato perishability..
Description
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS AND
RURAL SOCIOLOGY FACULTY OF AGRICULTURE,
AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA
NIGERIA.
Keywords
ECONOMIC,, ANALYSIS,, IRISH,, POTATO,, PRODUCTION,, PLATEAU,, STATE.