Profit Efficiency of Soybean Production in Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria

Abstract

This study evaluated profit efficiency of soybeans production in Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling technique was adopted for this study. Data were collected through the use of well-structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was distributed to 188 sampled soybean farmers in the study area. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, gross margin analysis, financial analysis, Cobb-Douglas production functional model. and stochastic frontier profit model. The results of the analysis show that about 25% of the sampled farmers were within the age bracket of 31-40 years, while 56% fell within the age ranges of 41-50 years. The mean age of the sampled soybean farmers was estimated to be 44 years. The results further revealed that majority 82.4% of the sampled respondents were male farmers. About 44.1% of the sampled farmers had no formal education. Majority (78.7%) of the sampled soybeans farmers had a household size range from 1-5 persons, the average farming experience of the farmers in the study area was 7 years. About 80.9% of soybean farmers had farm size between 1-2 ha. The total variable cost on average was N 130,184.51 with an estimated average total revenue of N340,250.00. The gross margin obtained was N210,063.49. The operating ratio and rate of return on investments were 0.383 and 1.613 respectively, this result implies that soybean production is profitable in the study area. The profit efficiency level attained by soybean farmers was 52% leaving a gap of 48%. The statistically significant factors influencing profit efficiency were price of fertilizer (P<0.1), price of chemical (P<0.1), price of labour (P<0.01), unit price of soybean (P<0.01), and total revenue (P<0.01). The statistically significant factors influencing profit inefficiency were household size (P<0.1), educational level (P<0.1), cooperative association (P<0.01), farming experience (P<0.05), access to credit (P<0.05), and price information (P<0.05). The soybean farmers encountered the following problems in the cause of production: inconsistent government policy and outbreak of diseases, lack of hired labour, high cost of inputs, inadequate capital, lack of extension services and unavailability of improved seed varieties. Therefore, this study recommends that government should provide farm tractors and other farm implements to ease the drudgery in soybean production and reduce the cost of labour incur by farmers, market information should be made available for farmers, farmers should be encouraged to expand their scale of production by providing them with production inputs like fertilizer, chemical and credit facilities in order to have increased yield, government should also disseminate price information through extension agents, social media, and mass media (Radio, and Television news) to farmers in order to teach farmers how to apply fertilizer and chemical appropriately.