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Volume 2 Number 9 September 2020
RESOURCE USE EFFICIENCY OF RAIN-FED MAIZE FARMING IN NIGERIA
Pages: 85-91Authors: Muhammed Adeola Adesina*, Bola Titus Omonona
Abstract
Maize is one of the most resourceful staple food crops in Nigeria. The crop serves as the source of food, income and foreign exchange and has the potential of pushing the country out of the present food insecurity. In response, resources available for maize production need to be efficiently utilized. Therefore, this study analyzed the resource use efficiency of rain-fed maize farming in Nigeria employing information from the 2015-2016 General Household Survey conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics. Descriptive statistics, Gross Margin analysis, double-log function and Marginal Value Productivity analysis were the analytical techniques employed for this study. The descriptive statistics showed that majority (88.9%) of the respondents were males, also majority (66.7%) were in their productive age and aged between 18-59 years with a mean household size of 7. Result of the Gross Margin analysis revealed that an average of ?35,807.06 was realized per hectare and ?2.68 realized on each naira invested. The efficiency ratio (MVP/MFC) is greater than one (>1) for all the inputs except for agro-chemical (0.88) implying an underutilization of all inputs except agro-chemical which was over-utilized. Thus, all resources are yet to be efficiently utilized by the maize farmers. However, output and total revenue could be enhanced by increasing the quantity of labour, land, seed and fertilizer, and by decreasing the quantity of agro-chemical used. The study therefore advocates that more production inputs, especially improved maize seeds and fertilizer should be supplied to farmers at the right time and at cost that is within the reach of the farmers to increase output.
