Assessment of the Costs and Returns in Organic Tomato Production and their Profitability in Zuru Local Government Area of Kebbi State, Nigeria
Mshelizah R. J. 1, H. I. Germace2, M. S. Ribah3 & U. Z. Senchi4
1Department of Agricultural Extension and Management, College of Agriculture, Zuru, Kebbi State,
2Department of Science, College of Agriculture, P.M.B. 1018, Zuru, Kebbi State, Nigeria
3&4Department of Animal Health Technology, College of Agriculture, Zuru, Kebbi State, Nigeria
Corresponding Author: Mshelizah R. J.
ABSTRACT
The study assesses the costs and returns to organic tomatoes production in Zuru LGA of Kebbi State, Nigeria. The specific objectives of the study are to determine the profitability of organic tomato production, to determine the total costs of producing an acre of organic tomatoes, to determine the returns in organic tomato production, and to identify the costs per labour of organic tomato production. The population of the study area comprises of both male and female, four (4) villages in Zuru LGA were purposively selected, while simple random sampling was used to select ten (10) tomato farmers from each of these villages, making forty (40) sampled organic tomato farmers as sample size for this study. Data were collected using structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and farm budgeting technique were used as tools of analysis to achieve the stated objectives. The result of the descriptive statistics revealed that, only 15% of the respondents cultivates above 21 hectares of land, while the result of family labour shows that, 70% of the respondents use family labour. The result of the farm budget revealed the average total costs of organic tomato production to be ^56,236.66 per respondent. The result also revealed the total average variable costs to be constituting 96.32% of the total cost of production, and the total fixed costs on depreciation consist of 3.68% of the total fixed costs of production which is ^874 per/hectare. The study recommends that the organic tomato farmers should enlarge their farm land to achieve higher production output.
Key: Assessment, Costs, Returns, Organic Production and Profitability
