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ANALYSIS OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS AND PROFITABILITY OF RICE PRODUCTION AMONG SMALLSCALE FARMERS IN EBONYI STATE
Abstract: This study investigated on socio-economic factors and profitability of rice production among smallscale farmers in Ebonyi state. Multi-stage random sampling technique was employed to select a total of 120 rice farmers. The primary data were collected for the study through structured questionnaire and interview schedule organized for illiterate farmers in the study area. Analytical tool adopted for the study include; frequency, percentages, and multiple regression analysis and factor analysis. The result of analysis showed that majority (58.3%) of the farmers in the study area were females while 41.7% were males. The age of the respondents between 21-30 years with 41.7% ranked the highest, while those greater than 51 years with 4.2% was the least. Majority (62.5%) of the respondents were married while 4.2% were single. Result on household size shows that greater proportion 29.2% of the respondents have the highest frequency at the range of 11-15 persons while 20.8% were least. The result of educational level shows that majority (41.2%) completed primary school while the least of the respondents (12.5%) had tertiary education. The study further indicates that most (45%) of the respondents had reasonable years of experience ranging between 16 and above in the study area.
The research work also showed that majority (41.7%) of the respondents were farmers and earned between 31,000-4,0000 naira per annual. The study also shows that they sourced their information majority from ADPs, ministry of Agriculture, local government, neighbours, extension agent, Fadama, Radio/TV and cooperative society. In the result of multiple regression analysis, it was observed that coefficient of determination was 87% and all the variables used were positively signed and some statistically insignificant such as age, marital status, household size, educational level, farming experience and annual income. The statistically significant ones were occupation, gender and farm size. The major constraints limiting the rice production were identified as economic problem, infrastructural issue and unfavourable government policies. Based on the findings of the research work, some relevant recommendations were made; they include; extension agents should be trained and empowered to educate farmers on how to process rice to different product, Government should work with existing social organization and involve them in distribution of necessary inputs for rice production and timely provision of necessary farm inputs to enhance rice production.
Keywords: Socio-Economic, Factors, Profitability, Rice Production, Smallscale, Farmers, Ebonyi State.