Economic Efficiency Of Fadama Telfairia Production In Imo State Nigeria: A Translog Profit Function Approach

The study delved into economic efficiency analysis of Fadama Telfairia farmers in Imo State, Nigeria. Specifically, it identified the production systems; estimated the economic efficiency and their determinants. A multistage random sampling technique was adopted in the selection of 40 Fadama Telfairia farmers from each of the three agricultural zones of the State. A well-structured questionnaire was used to obtain information on socio - economic characteristics and other relevant variables. Descriptive statistics, which subsume frequencies, means and percentages, were used in the analysis of data on socio – economic characteristics cum production systems. Economic efficiency was analyzed using Translog stochastic profit function. The Maximum Likelihood Estimation Technique was employed in estimating the function while t-test statistic was employed in testing their determinants. With respect to production systems, majority (63.33%) of Fadama Telfairia farmers practised mixed vegetable production while 36.67% adopted sole Fadama Telfairia cropping system. The profit level was influenced by fertilizer price, wage rate and farm size while efficiency was found to be influenced by age, farming experience, membership of cooperative societies, farm and household sizes. The mean economic efficiency was 0.57 and as such, the average Fadama Telfairia would require a cost saving of 42% in order to attain the profit status of the most economically efficient farmer in the sample. Given the fact that ample opportunity exists for improvement in their efficiency, introduction of birth control policies and reviews of Land Use Act of 1990 are among policy options suggested by the study.