Original Research Article
Year: 2020 | Month: July-September | Volume: 5 | Issue: 3 | Pages: 518-528
Economic Efficiency of Orange Fleshed Sweet Potato (OFSP) Varieties by Farmers in Anambra State, Nigeria. (Stochastic Frontier Production Function Approach); Implication to Public Health in Rural Nigeria
Ume, S I1, Onunka, B N1, Ochiaka, CD2, Achebe, U3
1Department of Agricultural Extension and Management. Federal College of Agriculture Ishiagu, Ivo Local Government Area Ebonyi State, Nigeria.
2Department of Agricltural Economics and Extension. Enugu State University of Science and Technology. Enugu State, Nigeria.
3National Root Crop Research Institute (NRCRI), Igbariam Sub-station. Anambra State, Nigeria.
Corresponding Author: Ume, S I
ABSTRACT
Economic efficiency of orange fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) Varieties by Farmers in Anambra State, Nigeria was studied using one hundred and twenty farmers. The sampled farmers were selected using purposive and multistage random sampling techniques. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data for the study. Normalized profit function and factor analyses were used to address the objectives of the study. The result shows that level of education, household size, poor access to extension services; farm size and access to credit were the determinant factors to the economic efficiency of the crop production. The constraints to the crop production were high labour cost, high cost of vines and high cost of fertilizer. There is need to enhance farmers’ access to education programmes, extension services, inorganic fertilizer and labour saving device.
Keywords: Economic Efficiency, Orange Fleshed Sweet Potato (OFSP), Varieties, Farmers, Stochastic Frontier Production Function, Public Health Rural Nigeria