Profitability of fungicide use decisions among cocoa farmers in south-western Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined the compatibility of the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN) recommended fungicide use rate with profit maximization objective of Nigerian cocoa farmers. To achieve this research objective, a cross-sectional survey of cocoa farmers in four local government areas (LGAs) each in Osun and Ondo states was carried out. A three stage sampling procedure was adopted in selecting the respondents. A decision theoretic approach and regression method were used to analyze the data collected. The results indicated that (i) expected crop loss should be taken into account when deciding on the amount of fungicides to apply in the study area and (ii) the use rate recommended by CRIN could not be used in all situations – it is better used when the probability of large expected crop loss is extremely high (80%).

Key words: Profitability; fungicide use rate; decision theoretic model; coco

Moor Journal of Agricultural Research Vol.4(2) 2003: 288-295