Abstract:
This study analysed and compared tomato production among farmers using informal and formal credit sources in three Local Government Areas of Kano State, Nigeria. Three-stage sampling procedure and random samples were used to select 120 informal (66) and formal (54) credit beneficiaries out of 600 tomato farmers in twelve villages (i.e. four villages from each local government). Interview method of data collection was used to collect the data. The analytical tools used were descriptive statistics, farm budgeting and production function analysis. The results showed that while the average age of farmers who got credit from the informal sources was 33 years, the average age of farmers who got credit from formal sources was 34 years. The result further revealed that, the farmers that got credit from informal sources applied for an average of N47,000.00 but they got an average N43,000.00 while those who got credit from the formal sources applied for an average of N99,000.00 but they got an average of N66,000.00. The resource use efficiency showed that the two groups of farmers did not use their input resources efficiently. The net farm income of farmers who used informal sources was N46, 000.00 while farmers who used formal sources had a net farm income of N114, 942.00. Thus, while the average rates of return of those who got loan from informal sector was 33kobo per every naira invested, that of those who got loan from formal sector was N1.00 per every naira invested. In terms of constraints; for farmers who got credit from informal sources, high interest rate was ranked first; insufficient amount of credit was ranked second while lack of extension services in the areas was ranked third. For farmers who got credit from formal sources, late disbursement of credit was ranked first, insufficient amount of credit was ranked second and high interest rate was ranked third. It can then be concluded that production of tomato among small scale farmers in the study areas is relatively profitable but the optimum profit has not yet been reached due to the high interest rate on credit, late disbursement and insufficient amount of credit received by tomato farmers among others which leads to underutilisation of resources and ultimately result to relatively low output.
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF TOMATO PRODUCTION AMONG FARMERS USING INFORMAL AND FORMAL CREDIT SOURCES IN KANO STATE, NIGERIA
