Technical Efficiency of Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.)Walp) Production in Nasarawa State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study evaluated technical efficiency of cowpea production in Nasarawa State, Nigeria. The specific objectives were to determine socio-economic characteristics of the cowpea farmers, estimate costs and returns of cowpea production, evaluate the technical efficiency of cowpea production, evaluate the determinants of technical efficiency of cowpea production, and identify the constraints militating against cowpea production in the study area. Multi-stage sampling technique was adopted and employed. Data for this study was collected from the primary sources through well-structured questionnaires. The results of the analysis show that majority (79%) of the sampled cowpea farmers were male, the average age of the sampled farmers was 45 years indicating that they are still active and agile operating at a small scale level of 2.14 ha farm size. The study further shows that cowpea production is a profitable agribusiness with 2.8% return on investment. Factors that are statistically significant influencing the total output of cowpea production by the famers in the study area were seed (P<0.05), organic manure (P<0.01), chemical fertilizer (P<0.01) and agrochemical (P<0.05) while the factors influencing inefficiency of cowpea production were sex (P<0.01) marital status (P<0.01), education level of farmers (P<0.01), occupation (P<0.01) and household size (0.01). The farmers were able to attain 78% level of technical efficiency with inefficiency gap of 22% of inefficiency that needs to be filled. The cowpea farmers were faced with following constraints: pest and insect problem, poor storage facilities, poor marketing, access to credit facilities and poor infrastructure. Therefore, the study recommends that farmers should be encouraged to participate more in cowpea production since its production is profitable in the study area, farmers should also be provided with subsidized production inputs by government or non-governmental organizations like insecticides, herbicides, and credit facilities to increase their level of production capacity that will lead to increase in total output, income as well as improved welfare that will liberate them from poverty and make them food secured in the study area.