Socio-Economic Analysis of Cost and Returns of Yam Production Among Small Holder Farmers in Delta State, Nigeria

The study investigated socio-economic analysis of costs and returns of yam production among small holder farmers in Delta State, Nigeria. Multistage, purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used to select 120 respondents for the study. Well structured questionnaires were used to obtain data. Out of the 120 questionnaires administered, one questionnaire was rejected due to unacceptable errors. Descriptive statistics and net farm income were used in analyzing the data. Results revealed that majority (75.6%) were males, 45.4% were within the age range of 26 years and 35 years, 68.9% were married, 37.8% had 6 - 10 years of farming experience and the majority (42.9%) of the respondents had secondary school education. Out of the 15 variables investigated as regards to the determinants of yam production in Delta State, only seven (7) variables were found to be statistically related to the factors influencing the determinants of yam production in the study area. Those variables were family size (p<0.009), farming experience (p<0.000), income (p<0.000), educational level (p<0.000), access to credit (0.003), farm size (p<0.001) and age (p<0.000). The enterprise was profitable based on the positive values of gross margin (₦3,502,575), net farm income (₦2,904,575) and net return on investment (₦1.53k). This implies that yam production is a profitable enterprise in the study area since RNI was greater than one. The constraints were; high cost of labour, pests/disease attack, low knowledge of improved yam, poor extension services, inadequate finance, poor road network and high cost of local seed respectively. The paper therefore, recommends that farmers should be encouraged to join cooperative society in order to pool their resources together to take advantage of economies of scale purchase, thereby reducing cost of production.