Production Decisions and Costs - Returns Analysis of Poor Resource Cereals – Legumes Farmers in Adamawa State, Nigeria

The study assessed production decisions and evaluates cost - returns on investment of poor resource cereals – legumes farmers in Adamawa State, Nigeria. Multi-stage, purposive and random sampling techniques were used to draw 200 poor resource cereals – legumes farmers in the state. Descriptive statistics (frequency count, percentages and means), gross margin (GM), likert – scale and chi – square were used to analyze the data generated through the use of questionnaire from primary source. The result reveals that majority (80%) of the respondents were males, majority (75%) were within the age limit of 50 years, majority (60%) were married, majority (40%) had 6-10 members in their house and majority (70%) had educational level ranging from primary education to ordinary diploma and national certificate of education, (10%) had no formal education; while 15% and 5% were graduates and post graduates respectively. The study identified thirteen (13) different cereals – legumes combinations practiced by the poor resource farmers in the area. The result further shows that, household’s food security motives, market price of commodities, availability of capital, managerial skills, government policies and income generation motives were factors that influenced decisions. Furthermore, the result reveals that low returns from investment, conflict between farmers and herders, inadequate capital, inadequate labour, high price of inputs and poor road network were the problems affecting poor resource cereals – legumes farmers’ performance. The study, therefore, conclude that, cereals – legumes farming practiced by poor resource farmers in the area is profitable and can serve as means of employment, beneficial to food security, means for minimizing crime in both rural and urban areas through its value –chain economic activities and hence could be used as a poverty alleviation tool. The study recommended that; low profit should be improved through adoption of modern practices, conflict between farmers and herders should be minimized through clear demarcation of grazing routes, inadequate capital should be improved through formation of co-operatives and provision of affordable and accessible credit facilities, inadequate labour should be minimized through the use of labour saving devices, high price of inputs should be minimized through bulk purchase, transportation and distribution. Similarly, Government, Non – Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and communities should rehabilitate, upgrade and construct new roads.