Profitability and Technical Efficiency of Maize-Based Cropping System Farmers in Ondo State, Nigeria

This study was carried out to evaluate the technical efficiency of maize-based cropping systems in Ondo State, Nigeria. Primary data were used with the aid of a well-designed questionnaire. A multistage sampling procedure was used to randomly select 160 respondents. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, budgeting technique, and stochastic frontier production function model. The results of the budgetary technique revealed that the average gross margin per hectare was ₦17,715.03, ₦53,230.76, and ₦14,651 for sole maize cropping system, maize-cassava cropping system, and maize-yam cropping system, respectively. It was shown that household size and access to credit were the main determinants of the technical efficiency in sole maize cropping pattern, while access to credit and farming experience were the main determinants of technical efficiency in maize-cassava. In maize-yam, educational level and household size significantly affected technical efficiency. Farmers in the study area were producing at about 76% efficiency in sole maize cropping system, 89% efficiency in maize-cassava cropping system, 82% efficiency in maize-yam cropping system. The elasticity of variables inputs was 0.18 in sole maize cropping system, 0.61 in maize-cassava cropping system, and 0.33 in maize-yam cropping system. This indicates that all the maize-based cropping system had decreasing return to scale; therefore, the cropping systems fell within the rational stage of production surface. The implication is that maize-based farmers have not attained maximum efficiency in term of their production. Therefore, policy attention should be directed towards appropriate production technique that would improve productivity in the study area.