Profitability and efficiency of cucumber production among smallholder farmers in Oyo state, Nigeria

Abstract

Cucumber is one of the most important exotic vegetables in Nigeria. Its profile is rising due to widespread knowledge of its inherent health benefits. To sustain the availability of the crop in order to meet increasing demand, there is the need to enhance its productivity. Crop productivity depends on the efficient use of both material and human resources utilized in the production process. This study therefore examined profitability and efficiency of cucumber production in Iseyin local government area of Oyo state. Primary data on socioeconomic characteristics of farmers, input and output quantity and prices were collected from 73 cucumber farmers and analyzed using descriptive statistics, budgetary technique and stochastic frontier. Majority of the farmers were male (96.7%) with average age of 46.4 years. An average of 17.1 years of farming experience cut across both gender groups. The average hectare was 1.5 with average yield of 5,368 kg/ha. Budgetary analysis revealed that net profit of N=239,440/ha, profit margin percentage of 55.8% and returns on every naira invested of 1.26 were obtained. This is an indication that cucumber production is profitable in the study area. The result of the stochastic frontier indicated that farm size and volume of agrochemical used significantly influenced cucumber production. Age, education status of farmers and access to credit were the significant factors determining technical efficiency of the farmers in the study area. Mean technical efficiency of production was 0.68. The study recommends capacity building for farmers on an appropriate combination of resources.