Comparative Analysis of Resource Use Efficiency of Cereal Crop Enterprises in Dutsin-Ma Local Government Area of Katsina State

Abstract

This study examines the resource use efficiency in cereal crop enterprise production in Dutsin-Ma Local Government Area of Katsina State. The two cereal crops selected were Millet enterprise and sorghum enterprise. Data for the study was collected from 80 Millet farmers and 80 sorghum farmers randomly selected in five villages. The data collection was from October to December 2022 cropping season. Production function analysis which incorporates the conventional neoclassical test of economic and technical efficiencies was used as the analytical technique. Profitability analysis was also used to determine the profitable enterprise. Findings revealed that for Sorghum production fertilizer input was optimally utilized by the farmers while other inputs seeds, labor, and farm size were overused. On the other hand in Millet production, all the inputs seed, labor, fertilizer, and farm size were over-utilized. The profitability analysis revealed that the Sorghum enterprise was the most profitable with a mean net farm income value of ₦138,000 per hectare while Millet had a net farm income of ₦63,000/ha. The results show that there is a need for farmers to be advised on the appropriate allocation of resources to boost efficiency and output. This would mean using less seed input, labor, and farm size for Sorghum production, while for Millet production less of all the inputs should be used.