RESOURCE-USE AND ALLOCATIVE EFFICIENCY OF PADDY RICE PRODUCTION IN EKITI STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study examined resource-use and allocative efficiency of paddy rice production in Ekiti State Nigeria, with a view of determining the profitability, resource-productivity and allocative efficiency of inputs used in rice production in the state. Primary and secondary data were employed in the study. For the primary data, multistage random sampling technique was used in selecting 135 rice farmers. Data was collected using structured questionnaire. Secondary data sources were obtained from the Federal Office of Statistics, the state ADP's annual report, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Previous research report and other relevant agencies within and outside the country. Data analysis was carried out using descriptive statistics, budgeting analysis and production function analysis using Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression techniques. Rice production was found to be profitable as farmers realized N219,277.41 per hectare as gross margin in the study area. Result of the productivity of inputs revealed that farmers were inefficient in the use of resources as confirmed by the return to scale (RTS) value obtained from the study. Also, estimation of allocative efficiency of input confirmed the RTS value as the result from the computation showed that variable inputs included in the regression were not optimally allocated.