EFFECT OF AGROCHEMICAL USE ON ALLOCATIVE EFFICIENCY OF LOWLAND RICE FARMERS IN NIGER AND OGUN STATES NIGERIA

Abstract

The study determined the effect of agrochemical use in rice production in Niger and Ogun States, Nigeria. A cross sectional survey was conducted to obtain primary data from 304 rice farmers selected through a multi-staged sampling procedure in the study areas. Data such as socio-economic characteristics, rice production activities, agrochemical application practices were obtained using a structured questionnaire complemented with interview schedule. The collected data were analyzed using frequency count, mean, percentages, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Tobit regression. The results showed that rice farming was popular among male farmers (91.2%) who had primary education (63.8%) and are within the active age bracket (mean age of 44 years).The DEA result indicated that the rice farmers in the study area were allocative inefficient (0.58). Furthermore, The Tobit regression result showed that allocative efficiency was influenced negatively by education (p<0.01), sex (p<0.10), extension contact (p<0.10) and number of farm plots (p<0.10) while credit (p<0.01), use of herbicides (p<0.10) and insecticides (p<0.10) influenced it positively. The study therefore concludes that agrochemical use helps to minimize cost of production while increasing output. Also, female rice farmers are more cost effective than their male counterparts. Thus, the study recommends that policy makers in agriculture should promote the use of certified agrochemical and also policies promoting female farmers’ access to production inputs which will be very useful since they are able to produce at minimal cost.