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ABSTRACT
The study was carried out to determine the profit efficiency of cassava production in Uhunmwode Local Government Area,Edo State, Nigeria. The specific objectives were to examine the socioeconomic characteristics of the cassava farmers, estimate the costs and returns of cassava production, determine the profit efficiency of cassava farmers and identify the constraints faced by cassava farmers in the study area. A two-stage random sampling procedure was adopted to select 100 respondents for this study. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, gross margin analysis and stochastic profit function. The results of the analysis showed that 51.5% of the respondents were males while 48.5% were females which shows dominance of men in cassava farming. Majority of the respondents fell within the age brackets of 40-50years. About 73.7% of the respondents were married, 49.6% of the respondents had between 6 -10 persons per household with an average household size estimated to be 7 persons. Most of the farmers (53.5%) had farming experience of 10years and below. The profitability result showed that total revenue was N79467.88, total cost was N25999.02, with a gross margin of N53670.91 and net profit of N53468.86 per hectare of cassava production.The stochastic profit efficiency showed that 86.3% deviation from the maximum profit obtainable was as a result of inefficiency of the farmers. It also showed that the farmers’ cost efficiency ranged from a minimum efficiency of 0.15 to a maximum efficiency of 0.96 with a mean efficiency of 0.78 indicating that they were able to obtain 78% of their potential profit from a unit mix of inputs. The socio economic factors which affected profit efficiency were farming experience, education, sex and household size. Significant constraints faced by respondents include lack of credit, high cost of transportation and poor transport facilities, high cost of labour, inadequate processing and storage facilities. It was recommended that farmers should be encouraged to invest in cassava production since it is a profitable business ventures and farmers should be encouraged to receive training on proper agronomic practices and usage of inputs to enhance their profit efficiency.
