PROFITABILITY AND EFFICIENCY OF RESOURCE UTILIZATION IN TOMATO PRODUCTION AMONG FARMERS IN PLATEAU STATE

ABSTRACT

The study determined the profitability and efficiency of resource utilization in tomato production among farmers in Plateau state. Primary data were used for the study. Multi-stage random sampling technique was used to select a total of two hundred and fifty (250) tomato farmers used for the study. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for the study. Result of the socio-economic characteristics of the tomato farmers show that about 75.76 % of the tomato farmers were women, majority of the farmers had formal education. Most of the tomato farmers are married.  Majority (45.6%) of the tomato farmers had a household size between 6 to 10 persons. The net farm income was calculated to be N406, 164.84 which means that on average a tomato farmer in the study area earned a profit of N406, 164.84. The return on investment was 2.0. This indicates that tomato production in the study area was profitable. The multiple regression analysis result showed that seed inputs (X₁), labour (X₃), farm size (X₄), farm experience (X₇) were statistically significant at 5%, 1%, 1%, and 10% probability level respectively.  The results of the resource use efficiency analysis show that the efficiency ratio (r) of seed inputs, Labour, and farm size was greater than 1, while agrochemicals and fertilizer had r less than 1. Unavailability of quality seeds was rank 1^st in the order of importance based on the perception of the Tomato farmers with mean score of 2.62. All the stated null hypothesis was rejected. Based on the findings of the study, the study recommended that youths are advised to venture into tomato farming to create jobs for themselves and reduce the over dependence on white collar jobs; credit facilities be made available and accessible at a relatively low interest rate to tomato farmers in the study area to boost and encourage production, and tomato farmers were enjoyed to strive toward efficient utilization of resource for optimum production. They are advice to venture into value addition program and course that will build their technical know-how in tomato production.