ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF PINEAPPLE PRODUCTION IN AHIAZU MBAISE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF IMO STATE, NIGERIA

Uche Okeke

Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension,

Anambra State University, Uli

E-mail: victorokeke76@gmail.com.

Abstract: The study examined the economics of pineapple production in Ahiazu Mbaise Local Government Area, Imo State, Nigeria. It specifically examined the socioeconomic characteristic of pineapple famers; reassessed the influence of respondent’s socioeconomic factors on production output, estimated costs and returns and identified the constraints militating against pineapple production in the study area. Primary data used for this research were collected through the aid of structured questionnaire simple random sampling was used to select 50 respondents. Finding on the socio-economic characteristics showed that about 50% of the farmers were males; majority of them fell within the age bracket of 41-50 years. Majority (76%) were married 50% attained tertiary institution, 54% had household size between 6-10 persons, majority of the farmers (76%) had 10 years of experience in pineapple production, (68%) with farm size ranging between 0.6-1.0 hectare. The study proved that the enterprise is profitable given the positive values of gross margin (N659, 640), net farm income (N466, 480) and net return on investment (0.83). Using multiply regression, the production output indicated that farm size; cost of labour and fertilizer had statistical and significant influence on production output while others like age, house hold size, gender, level of education and marital status had no statistically and significant influence on production output. The constraints of pineapple production are lack of extension service, lack of information on modern technology; poor storage facilities etc. For more efficient production, farmers should form cooperative society to enable them negotiate for credit facilities, provide modern storage facilities etc.Keywords:              Socio-Economic Characteristics of Pineapple Farmers, Production Output, Gross Margin, Net Farm Income, Net Return on Investment and Constraints of