Economics and Technical Efficiency of Dry Season Tomato Production in Selected Areas in Kwara State, Nigeria

Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill) is one of the major fruit vegetables in Nigeria. In view of its seasonal availability and the need to make it available all-year round, effort must be made to increase efficiency of its production especially during the dry season. A study was therefore carried out to examine the economics of dry season tomato production in Kwara state, Nigeria. It estimated the costs and returns and assessed the technical efficiency of dry season tomato production. A two-stage random sampling technique was used to select 105 respondents for the study. A well-structured questionnaire was used to collect data from the respondents. Major tools of analysis used for the study were the gross margin analysis and the stochastic frontiers model. Results of the study showed that a gross margin of N 18,956.75/ha (US$ 120.74/ha) was realized from dry season tomato production. Furthermore, the result of the stochastic frontier model shows that age, education status of the farmers and access to credit had significant effect on the efficiency of dry season tomato production. This study therefore highlights the need for government to invest in public education and to make credit available to farmers as a way of reducing the burden of high cost of production.