Abstract
Biofortified (vitamin A) cassava was developed through convectional breeding similar to most other improved varieties cultivated by Nigeria farmers. Despite its potential in addressing the increasing food demand and malnutrition in the country, lack of empirical knowledge about its yield and return on investment has been a major barrier to the uptake of this technology among farmers in Nigeria. This study examined the socio-economic characteristics of vitamin A cassava farmers; analyzed farm level efficiency and return on investment from vitamin A cassava in the study area; determined the factors affecting farm level efficiency and productivity, and examined the constraint to productivity and profitability among vitamin A cassava farmers. A multistage random sampling was used to select a total of 100 vitamin A cassava farmers in the study area. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, stochastic frontier production function (SFPF), profitability ratio and regression analysis. The results indicated that investing in vitamin A cassava as a business was very profitable. The result showed that 82% of the respondents were male, the mean age of the farmers was 53.25, 49% had only primary school certificate education, 66% farmed on the land between 1-2 hectares. The result further showed that on the average, total revenue was N261511.90, the total variable cost was N87754, gross margin was N173757.9, total cost was N179828.8, and net income was N81683.05. Mean technical efficiency was 78.73%. The study concluded that vitamin A cassava production in the study area was efficient and profitable. These results have implications for the design of effective advocacy strategies to attract more farmers into vitamin A cassava production in Nigeria.
Highlights
Biofortified cassava variety popularly known as Vitamin A cassava was developed through convectional breeding similar to most other improved varieties cultivated by Nigeria farmers [1]
This study examined the socio-economic characteristics; analyzed the performance of vitamin A cassava production in the study area; determined the factors affecting the performance of vitamin A cassava and examined the constraint of pro- vitamin A performance among smallholder farmers in Oyo state
Labour used and cost of production were the major determinants of farm level efficiency while access to planting materials was a significant factor contributing to inefficiency among the farmers
Summary
Biofortified cassava variety popularly known as Vitamin A cassava was developed through convectional breeding similar to most other improved varieties cultivated by Nigeria farmers [1]. The varieties that were released by the National Variety Release Committee of Nigeria are; UMUCASS 36, UMUCASS 37, and UMUCASS 38; and are recognized as IITA genotypes TMS 01/1368, TMS 01/1412, and TMS 01/1371. These were developed by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in partnership with the National Root Crops Research Institute, Nigeria using traditional breeding methods in a HarvestPlus- funded project. Cassava is the most important staple food in Nigeria given the number of people who eat it daily and the huge amount of calories derivable. It has evolved from being a peasant’s crop to cash and industrial crop.
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