Analysis of Allocative Efficiency of Swamp Rice Producers in Imo State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study evaluated the allocative efficiency of swamp rice producers in Imo State, Nigeria. The specific objectives of the study were to: determine the costs and returns associated with swamp rice production, and measure the allocative efficiency of resource use in swamp rice production. Data were collected using structured and validated questionnaires from 102 swamp rice farmers in Imo State. Data were analyzed using inferential statistics. Results showed that the net return of swamp rice farmers was N81,595 per hectare with a return on naira spent of 23.75% or N23.75. The allocative efficiency indices estimated showed that all the resources were inefficiently allocated in all the production systems. While some resources like seed, agrochemicals and depreciation were underutilized others like labour, fertilizer and land were overutilized. Furthermore, there is a need to bring in more land under rice cultivation for improvement of the rice production in the State and Nigeria as a whole.