Resource-Use Efficiency in Underutilized Crops: The Case of Roselle in North-WesternNigeria

This study evaluated resource-use efficiency in Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa) production inKebbi and Sokoto states of Nigeria. The study was undertaken through a field surveyconducted during the last three quarters of 1998 using a multi-stage sampling procedure. Theresults presented here are based on the data generated from 276 roselle farmers. The result ofthe analyses on responses revealed that roselle production is still predominantly undertraditional mode with land acquisition based on inheritance, majority of the farmers (70%)cultivated less than a hectare of roselle land size proportion. Roselle is a multi-product cropfrom which calyx, seed and leaf are produced. And that, farmers from Sokoto State weremuch older and more experienced in roselle cultivation than their Kebbi State counterparts,although less educated. The result of regression analyses for the roselle production functionrevealed that the quadratic function best characterised the roselle production situation, andthat farmers in both states were operating under the law of diminishing returns. The resource-use efficiency analysis revealed that Kebbi State farmers were inefficient in their usage oflabour, seed and fertilizer. Hired labour and land were under-utilised while family labour andseed were over-utilise