Analysis of Yam Production in Ondo State, Nigeria

International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation (IJRSI) | Volume VI, Issue VII, July 2019 | ISSN 2321–2705

Analysis of Yam Production in Ondo State, Nigeria

O. O, Ilemobayo¹ and J. O, Ijigbade²

 ¹Department of Agricultural Extension and Management, Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria
²Department of Agricultural Technology, Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria

Abstract: – The study analyses determinants and profitability of yam production in Ondo State. A well-structured questionnaire was used to collect primary data. A multi-stage sampling technique were used to select respondents in the study area. The results shows a positive relationship between the amount realized from sale of yam output and the explanatory variables such as clearing cost(0.219), heaping cost(8.693), staking cost(1.241), cost of yam setts(3.925) and harvesting cost(5.383). The result also shows an inverse relationship between transportation cost (- 1.185) and amount realized from sales of yam. The R2 value of 0.898 indicating 89.8 % of the variance in the dependent variable is explained by the explanatory variables. The result of the socio-economic characteristics shows that 63.3% of the farmers were in their active age of not more than 45year, 66.7 % were male, 83.3 % married, 91.7% had one form of education or the other, 58.3% had contact with extension agents and 76.7% cultivated above 1ha of land. The gross margin analysis revealed that yam production had a positive gross margin of ₦31,981.66the implication of this is that yam production in the study area is profitable and a return on investment of ₦1.40 shows that on every ₦1 invested, 40 kobo is realized.

Keywords: Production, Efficiency, Profitability, Regression

I. INTRODUCTION

Yams are among major cash and most consumed food crops in West African countries (GTZ, 1999)like Nigeria (Babaleye, 2005; National Bureau of Statistics, 2012. Therefore, the place of yam in the diet of people in West Africa in general and Nigeria in particular cannot be overemphasized. Yams are the fifth most harvested crops in Nigeria, following after cassava, maize, guinea corn, and beans/cowpeas. More so, after cassava, yams are the most commonly harvested tuber crops in the country (National Bureau of Statistics, 2012). According to Reuben and Barau (2012) yam contributes more than 200 dietary calories per capita daily for more than 150 million people in West Africa and also an important source of income generation and trade. Yam also has an important social status in gathering and religious functions which is assessed by the size of yam holdings one possesses

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