The effect of cropping pattern on the profitability of liquid fertilizer usage in dry season vegetable production in the Southern Guinea Savannah zone of Nigeria
University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria (1,2,3)
Liquid fertilizers in dry season vegetable production are applied using different cropping patterns with little or no empirical evidence on which pattern is the most profitable. This study, therefore, investigated the effect of cropping patterns on the profitability of liquid fertilizer usage in dry season vegetable production. Specifically, the study identified the various vegetable enterprises, assessed the inputs and outputs of the different vegetable enterprises and estimated the profitability of the vegetable enterprises. A multi-stage random sampling procedure was used to select 309 farmers in the Southern Guinea Savannah zone. Pretested and structured interview schedules were used for data collection. Descriptive statistics and partial budgeting techniques were used for data analysis. Twelve different vegetable enterprises were identified in the study. Sixty percent of users of liquid fertilizer cultivated only fruit vegetables such as okra and peppers. The usage of the combination of both liquid and non-liquid fertilizers in mixed vegetable production yielded the highest quantity of output of about 1374kg/ha. However, usage of sole liquid fertilizer on exotic vegetables gave the highest profitability of 323 percent on the rate of return to capital investment. The study has concluded that the use of liquid fertilizer increases profitability and therefore recommends the formulation and implementation of policies that will encourage liquid fertilizer usage among the farmers.