Cost and Returns of Paddy Rice Production in Kaduna State (Published)
As a result of increasing population growth and urbanization, there is a high and increasing demand for rice, this necessitates the high attention for its production. This research was conducted to determine the profitability considering the cost and returns of paddy rice production in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State. Data for the study were collected from 60 randomly selected paddy rice farmers using a well structured questionnaire and analyzed using the descriptive statistics, the gross margin and net income model. The result showed that 97% were male, 88% married and had an average household size of 10people. It was interesting to realize that all respondents had one form of education or the other and their average farm size was 15ha producing about 3.2tonnes of paddy per hectare. The average variable cost incurred per hectare was estimated to be $866.3 (N172,400) while the total cost of production was put at $1002 (N199,400) and a gross revenue of $1768.84 ( N352,000) was generated. Paddy rice production in the study area was estimated to have a gross profit $902.51 (N179,600) and a net returns of $766.83 (N152,600). The study however concluded that paddy rice production in the study area is a profitable enterprise and it also recommended that consistent government policies that would favour increase in paddy production, market information, extension service delivery, input subsidization and credit facilities be implemented.
Keywords: Costs, Kaduna, Paddy Rice, Production, Profitability, Returns