ANALYSIS OF RESOURCE-USE EFFICIENCY AND RETURN TO SCALE AMONG POULTRY LAYER FARMERS IN JOS METROPOLIS, PLATEAU STATE, NIGERIA

This study estimated the economics of layer poultry production in Jos, Plateau state, Nigeria. Primary data were collected on layer poultry farmer’s farms, with the aid of structured questionnaires. Seventy five (75) respondents were selected through a multistage random sampling procedure. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, net farm income analysis and stochastic frontier production function using maximum likelihood estimation procedure, the result shows average age of the poultry layer farmers was 36 years, while 92 percent had a minimum of primary education. Average years of experience in poultry farming was 8 years, while the average household size of poultry layer farmers were 5 members. The total variable cost and fixed cost incurred by layer poultry farmers is N 1,284.67/bird/annum and N 68.89/bird/annum respectively, while the total revenue is N 1,860.83/bird/annum. Thus, the net farm income obtained by the respondents is N 307.27/bird/annum. The level of technical efficiency varies widely among farms ranging from approximately 7-83% with 38 % mean technical efficiency. The analysis also indicated that variables such as gender, age, marital status, household size, level of education, years of farming experience, cooperative membership and extension access had significant influence on the level of technical efficiency. The return to scale (RTS) was 0.568 showing that the farmers were operating in stage II of the production function and are therefore efficient.  The major constraints faced by the layer poultry farmers in the study area are; limited access to credit, high cost of feed, frequent outbreak of diseases and high cost of vaccine and medication. It is recommended that appropriate input pricing, formation of cooperative society with the aim of purchasing feed mixing equipment will help to reduce the cost of feed and adoption of proper management practices to improve income.