Profitability Analysis of Sole Cowpea Production in Ganye Local Government Area of Adamawa State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study analysed the Economics of Sole Cowpea Production in Ganye Local Government Area of Adamawa State, Nigeria. The study's specific objectives were to; describe respondents' the socio-economic characteristics, assess the profitability of sole cowpea production and identify the constraints to sole cowpea production in the study area. Multistage sampling technique was adopted to collect primary data at random from 120 respondents. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics and gross margin analysis. The results revealed that the majority (75%) of the farmers were young (20-49 years). Most of the farmers (77.50%) had one form of formal education or the other and were mostly male with farming experience of 5 years and above having cultivating an average of 1.76 hectares of farmland. Costs and returns analysis revealed an estimated average gross margin and net farm income per hectare of 306,050.12 respectively. The study also revealed that high incidence of pests and disease infestation, inability to access adequate credit facilities, and high cost of inputs.  Key among the recommendations of the study is the need for the provision of adequate farmers training/education on cowpea production technologies, and also enhance access to credit facilities.