Technical Efficiency and Return to Scale in Yam Production in Tai Local Government Area of Rivers State, Nigeria

This study examined the technical efficiency and return to scale in yam production in Tai Local Government Area of Rivers State, Nigeria. The specific objectives were to profile the socioeconomic characteristics of the yam farmers, determine the technical efficiency of yam production, determine the factors influencing technical inefficiency and return to scale in yam production. Multi-stage sampling technique was used in selecting a sample of 75 yam farmers using structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and stochastic frontier analysis were used in achieving the objectives. The results indicated that the average age and farming experience of the farmers were 41 years and 17 years respectively. Also, the mean household size was six persons. The technical efficiency of farmers varied from 10.04% to 99.93% with a mean of 72.46%. Farm size, seed yam, hired labour and fertiliser were the significant factors that influence variation in yam output. Socio-economic variables such as gender, age, family size, marital status and educational level were found to have significant effects on the technical inefficiency among yam producers. The return to scale was 0.776 which indicated that the framers operated in stage II of the production process. It was therefore recommended that yam farmers should reduce the use of yam setts as its coefficient shows negative sign to maximized yield.