Abstract

This study examines rice production in Lake Geriyo of Adamawa state, Nigeira. The study describes the demographic profile of the farmers, determines their profitability, examines the effect of farmers’ demographic profile on rice output as well as the constraints hindering rice production in the area. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. The descriptive statistics revealed that majority of the farmers (69.15%) were male, 40.43% ranges between 41–50 years, while 96% of them were married, 89.36% are educated with a mean experience of eight years. Costs and returns analysis revealed that the average variable cost per hectare was ₦86,020, while the total fixed cost was N8,450 with a gross margin of ₦103,273 and a net farm income of ₦94,823 which indicates that rice farming in the area is a profitable venture. The regression analysis shown that education, household size, farming experience and man-days of labour were positive and statistically significant at varying probability levels and hence influenced rice output. The coefficient of determination (R2) showed that about 68.29% of the variation in output was explained by the independent variables used in the model whereas the remaining 31.71% was accounted for by error term. However, high cost of agrochemicals, inadequate credit facility and high cost of labor were the major constraints confronting farmers. The findings recommend that experience and educated rice producers should be encouraged by government via workshops to share their skills with young farmers in order to enhance their knowledge and increase their output and profit levels.