Okeke et al Greener Journal of Agricultural Sciences Vol. 9(2), pp. 155-162, 2019 ISSN: 2276-7770 Copyright ©2019, the copyright of this article is retained by the author(s) DOI Link: http://doi.org/10.15580/GJAS.2019.2.032619050 https://gjournals.org/GJAS Comparative Analysis of the Technical Efficiency of Beneficiary and Non-Beneficiary Rice Farmers of the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme in Benue State, Nigeria *Okeke, A.M1; Mbanasor, J.A2; Nto, P.O2 1Department of Agribusiness, University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria. 2Department of Agribusiness and Management, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State, Nigeria. ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article No.: 03261950 Type: Research DOI: 10.15580/GJAS.2019.2.032619050 Comparative analysis of the technical efficiency of beneficiary and non-beneficiary rice farmers of the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme in Benue State, Nigeria was investigated. Data for the study were collected with the aid of well-structured questionnaire from 768 rice farmers consisting of 388 beneficiaries and 380 non-beneficiaries from 18 communities and 18 Local Government Areas using multi-stage sampling technique. The collected data were analysed using descriptive statistics, multiple regression analysis, and stochastic frontier production function. The findings revealed that the beneficiary rice farmers achieved lower levels of technical efficiency compared to the non-beneficiary rice farmers and that seed (0.483) and agrochemical (1.60) used, increased technical efficiency more among beneficiary rice farmers than the non-beneficiary rice farmers while fertilizer (-1.285) used, decreased technical efficiency of beneficiary rice farmers more compared to the non-beneficiary rice farmers. The results also showed that rice production among the beneficiaries was in stage I of the production curve and that gender (1.249), educational level (-0.045), age (0.058), membership of cooperative (-0.250), extension visit (0.126), marital status (-2.633), and household size (0.059) significantly influenced their technical inefficiency. The study recommended policies and programmes targeted at reallocation and redistribution of farm production inputs and taking cognizance the incorporation of farmers’ socio-economic characteristics in their formulation. Submitted: 26/03/2019 Accepted: 28/03/2019 Published: 25/04/2019 *Corresponding Author Okeke, A.M. E-mail: anayomichaelokeke@ gmail.com Keywords: Technical efficiency, Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, Rice farmers, Benue State, Nigeria . Return to Content View [Full Article – PDF] [Full Article – HTML] [Full Article – EPUB] Post-Publication Peer-review Rundown View/get involved, click [Peer-review] REFERENCES Ahmed, A., Xu, S., Yu, W. and Wang, Y.(2017). Comparative Study on Factors Influencing Rice Yield in Niger State of Nigeria and Hainan of China. International Journal of Agricultural and Food Research (IJAFR), 6(1):15-25. Battese, G.E. and Coelli, T.J. (1988). Production of Fano Level Technical Efficiency from a Generalized View. J. Econ., 38: 387-399. Bivan, G.M., Akhilomen, L.O., Rahman, S.A. and Sanni, S.A.(2015). Economic Efficiency analysis of Pineapple Production in Edo State, Nigeria: A Stochastic Frontier Production Approach. American Journal of Experimental Agriculture, 5(3): 267-280. BNARDA (2004). The Impact of Benue State Agricultural and Rural Development Authority. Pp. 42. Coelli, T.J. (1994). A Guide to FRONTIER Version 4.1: A Computer Program for Stochastic Frontier Production and Cost Function Estimation. Department of Econometrics, University of New England, Armidale, Australia. Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) (2017). Nigeria Market Monitoring Bulletin. Pp 1-4. Girei, A.A., Dire, B., Iliya, M.M. and Salihu, M. (2013). Stochastic Frontier Production Function on the Resource Use Efficiency of Fadama II Crop Farmers in Adamawa State, Nigeria. European Journal of Agricultural and Forestry Research, 1(2): 1-15 Gujarati, D. (1970). Use of Dummy Variables in Testing for Equality between Sets of Coefficients in Two linear Regressions: A Note. American Statist, 230. Pp. 50-52. Itam, K.O., Ajah, E.A., Ofem, U.I. and Abam, O.E. (2015). Technical Efficiency Analysis of Small Scale Cassava Farmers in Cross River State, Nigeria: A Stochastic Production Frontier Approach. Applied Economics and Finance, 2(4): 10-18 Maddala, G.S. (1988). Introduction to Economics. Macmillan Publishing Company, New York, USA. Nwaru, J.C. (2003). Gender and Relative Production Efficiency in Food Crop Farming in Abia State of Nigeria. The Nigerian Agricultural Journal, 34:1-10. Nwaru, J.C. and Iheke, O.R. (2010). Comparative Analysis of Resource Use Efficiency in Rice Production Systems in Abia State of Nigeria. Journal of American Science, 6(11): 396-408. Ojehomon, V.E.T., Ayinde, O.E., Adewumi, M.O. and Omotesho, O.A. (2013). Determinants of Technical Efficiency of New Rice for Africa (NERICA) Production: A Gender Approach. Ethiopian Journal of Environmental Studies and Management, 6(5): 453-460. Osanyinlusi, O.I. and Adenegan, K.O. (2016). The Determinants of Rice Farmers’ Productivity in Ekiti State, Nigeria. Greener Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 6(2): 49-58. PwC Analysis (2017). Boosting Rice Production through Increased Mechanization. PricewaterhouseCoopers Limited, Nigeria. Pp. 20. Sankhayan, P.I. (1998). Introduction to Economics of Agricultural Production. Prentice Hall, New Delhi, India. Pp. 35 Sibiko, K.W., Owuor, G., Birachi, E., Gido, E.O., Ayuya, O.I. and Mwanyi, J.K. (2012). Analysis of Determinants of Productivity and Technical Efficiency among Smallholder Common Bean Farmers in Eastern Uganda. Current Research Journal of Economic Theory, 5(3): 44-55. Cite this Article: Omovbude, S.; Udom, BE; Udensi, UE (2019). Effects of Poultry Manure and Spent Mushroom Substrate on Soil, Weed and Maize Performance in an Ultisol. Greener Journal of Agricultural Sciences 9(2): 146-154, http://doi.org/10.15580/GJAS.2019.2.033119060.