Production system and varietal effects on potato production in Jos Plateau, Nigeria

Abstract

To address the problem of potato production in Nigeria, the Potato Research Programme of National Root Crops Research Institute, Umudike was established in Kuru, Jos in 1976. Data was collected with the aid of a structured questionnaire from 182 respondents involved in the the study. The aims of this study were to test production system effect in potato production and varietal effect on potato production. The potato production systems were Furrow/Flood Irrigation and Manual Watering and the varieties were Nicola, Lady Christy and Empi (Local Variety). Chow’s F-test was carried out to test for the stability of the production functions estimated. The calculated Chow’s F-statistic were 8.529, 9.783 and 14.690 and they were all statistically significant at 1 percent. This implied that there was a structural shift in the production function of potato in Jos Plateau. So it can be safely stated that the introduction of new potato varieties (Nicola and Lady Christy) caused an upward shift in the Empi (Local variety) production function. Similarly, the Chow’s F-test for the potato varieties in the two production systems were statistically significant at 1 percent. This confirmed that there were significant differences between the varieties (Nicola, Lady Christy and Empi) under the Furrow/Flood Irrigation and Manual watering production systems. New potato varieties that are high yielding and disease resistant should be introduced to enhance farmers’ productivity and income. Potato farmers’ should be encouraged to use both furrow/ flood irrigation and manual watering production systems for increased potato production in the study area.

Keywords: Production system, Varietal effects, Potato production