Abstract
The study examined the efficiency of resource use in soybean production in Gboko Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria. The objectives of the study were to identify and describe the socio economic characteristics of soybean farmers and to determine resource allocation among soybean farmers. Multi-stage random sampling technique was used to select a sample of 120 respondents. Data collected were subjected to Descriptive statistics and production function analysis. The result revealed that 93.3% of the farmers had one form of formal education, or the other with over 65% cultivating between 1-4 hectares. Also, 87.5% of the farmers were in their active age, and 81.7% utilized their personal saving as a major source of finance for production. The result of the production function analysis indicated that 87.21% of the variation in the output of soybean is explained for by the independent variables. Resource-use efficiency revealed that quantity of seed, farm size, herbicide and inorganic fertilizer were underutilized while labour was over utilized. Provision of adequate and timely farming inputs, making loans accessible to farmers and reasonable market price of soybean are essential to boost production.KEYWORDS: Analysis, Resource use efficiency, Farmers, production function analysis, Benue, Nigeria.
Highlights
Soybean (Glycine max) is an important crop in the world
The study examined the analysis of resource use efficiency among soybean farmers in Gboko local government area of Benue state, Nigeria
The socio economic analysis of the respondents revealed that the majority 68.3% were young with mean age of 39 years. 82.5% were married and 82.5% of the farmers were male
Summary
Soybean (Glycine max) is an important crop in the world. The crop can be successfully grown in many states in Nigeria using low agricultural input. Soybean cultivation in Nigeria has expanded as a result of its nutritive and economic importance and diverse domestic usage. It is a prime source of vegetable oil in the international market. 95% is consumed as edible oil with the rest used for industrial products from cosmetics and hygiene products to paint removers and plastics (Liu 2008). Soybean is found to be an industrially important crop used as anti-corrosion agent, core oil, and bio-fuel due to less or no nitrogen element in the oil, and as disinfectant, in pesticides, printing inks, paints, adhesives, antibiotics and cosmetics (Ngalamu et al 2012)
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