Profitability and resource use efficiency in cotton production in Kurfi Local Government Area of Katsina State, Nigeria

Abstract

A survey on cotton production was carried out in Kurfi Local Government Area of Katsina State with the view to assess the profitability and resource use efficiency in its production. Information was collected through a structured questionnaire administered to a sample of 50 randomly selected respondents. The data were analyzed using multiple regression and gross margin analysis. It was found that cotton producers obtained average gross margin of N 12,500/ha in the area. Most of the respondents operated on small scale basis. The regression coefficient for land, labour, fertilizer and capital in the Cobb-Douglas model were positive, indicating that 1% increase in each of the independent variables will increase output by 0.42%, 0.18 %, 0.26% and 0.21%, respectively. However, with the exception of fertilizer, cotton growers were inefficient in the utilization of all the inputs. There was under utilization of land and over utilization of labour and capital. It was also observed that cotton farmers suffered from low extension services, poor marketing system and credit facilities. Thus, improving the performance of the enterprise requires the need to ensure and sustain judicious use of inputs through well organized extension packages specific to cotton growers.