Economics of sustainable vegetable farming under Fadama condition in Dass Local Government Area of Bauchi State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined the sustainable vegetable farming under fadama condition in Dass Local Government Area of Bauchi using the following selected crops: onion, tomato, pepper, okro, carrot, cabbage and garden-egg. A total of ninety-six (96) farmers were randomly selected from twelve- (12) Fadama users’ association arranged in strata. Three (3) categories of farmers were formed, namely, below 1, 2 to 3.99, and 3 to 4.99 ha consisting of 37, 39 and 20 farmers, respectively. The specific objective of the study was to determine the categories of farm sizes within which the sampled farmers operated; resource use and return pattern on the various categories of sampled farmers in the study area. Benefit-cost analysis was employed to analyze the results of the study. The findings below 1 ha farm size revealed higher benefit-cost ratios for onion (4.22), tomato (4.08) and pepper (3.43) even though the surplus over cost A1 (N32,285.52) and surplus over cost C (N29,463.52) were highest for tomato, followed by onion at surplus over cost A1 (N30,863.43) and surplus over cost C (N27,883.43). Similarly the benefit-cost on 1 to 2.99 ha farm size shows that the benefit-cost ratio for onion (N4.08) was highest followed by tomato (N3.99), even though surplus over cost A1 (N31,978.67) and surplus over cost C (N28,978.67) were both highest in tomato than onion. Also, the results on 3 to 4.99 ha farm size disclosed that even though the benefit-cost ratio was highest in onion (4.10) and tomato (3.94), pepper, lettuce and okro were competitive crops. This implies that the benefit-cost ratios for the major vegetable crops showed a consistently increasing trend for all categories of the sampled farmers due to joint family labor. It was therefore recommended that the Government should play supportive roles of enabling environment for the sustainability to be achieved. Key words: Sustainability, cost, returns, vegetable crops, gini concentration ratio, economics, surplus.