Economics of sweet potato production in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, Nigeria: A Stochastic Approach

Abstract

The study examines the technical efficiency and profitability of sweet potato production in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, Nigeria. A total of one hundred sweet potato farmers were selected through a multi-stage sampling technique. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics, budgetary analysis and stochastic approach. The average age of the farmers was 35 years, majority (54%) of the sweet potato farmers were males, majority (87%) of the farmers had one form of education, average fish farming experience of the farmers was 9 years, and majority (55%) of the sweet potato farmers were married. The result of production function depicts the coefficient of multiple determinations (R2) to be 41%. It further shows that the relationship between output and farming experience which had a coefficient of 0.11 was positive indicating that as years of farming experience increased, the amount of output increased. Moreover, the mean technical efficiency was 0.73 with minimum and maximum efficiencies of 0.19 and 1.76 respectively. Total Cost (TC) was ₦20,755.53while total returns were ₦31,715.20 with Net Farm Income (NFI) of ₦10,959.67. Return on investment was ₦0.53, which implies profitability of sweet potato production in the study area. The study also identified inadequate finance, lack of land, and high cost of labor as the major problems faced by the farmers. Government is therefore recommended to support in terms of revitalization and prioritizing funding of extension delivery system of the state owned Agricultural Development Programmes (ADPs).