Resource-Use and Allocative Efficiency of Paddy Rice Production in Niger Delta Region of Nigeria. (Review Completed - Accepted)
The study examined resource-use and allocative efficiency of paddy rice production in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria with the view to determining the profitability, resource productivity and allocative efficiency of inputs used in rice production in the study area. The data for the study was collected from 300 rice farmers in three out of nine states in the region based on their intensity in rice production in the study area using multistage and simple random sampling technique.Data analysis was carried out using descriptive statistics, profitability model and allocative efficiency model. Rice production was found to be profitable as farmers realized N319,046.84/ha as Gross Margin in the study area. Result of the allocative efficiency of inputs confirmed thatrice producers in the area did not attain optimal allocative efficiency, seed input (0.94) has the highest allocative efficiency while land input (0.05) was the least allocative efficient input. Emergent from the findings, it was recommended that concerted efforts from individual rice farmers and government to establish farmers’ participatory extension service to ensure timely supply and proper use of rice farm inputs in order to improve farmers’ resource use efficiency.
Keywords: Allocative Efficiency, Niger-Delta, Nigeria, Paddy Rice, Resource Use
TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY IN PADDY RICE PRODUCTION IN NIGER DELTA REGION 0F NIGERIA (Published)
This study estimated technical efficiency of rice farmers in Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Multistage sampling technique was used to sample 300 rice farmers. A stochastic frontier production function was used to estimate technical efficiency. The study further assessed the factors that affect technical efficiency of the rice farmers. All the coefficients were found to have positively influenced paddy rice productivity. The level of efficiency of rice farmers was found to be 0.63. The study further found that gender and household size were significant determinants of technical efficiency. The study therefore recommended policies that will ensure that costs of productive inputs are affordable to farmers and improving households’ income through better prices for their output. Provision of labor saving equipment is also important in reducing inefficiencies in paddy production through reduction in labor cost.
Keywords: Niger-Delta, Nigeria, Rice, Stochastic Frontier Production Function., Technical Efficiency