Maize Production Risk and Technical Efficiency in Agricultural Development Programme Zone I of Taraba State, Nigeria

This study analyzes maize production risk and technical efficiency in agricultural zone I in Taraba State, Nigeria. The study collected primary data from 299 randomly selected maize farmers during the 2022 farming season. The Cob-Douglas stochastic frontier production functions were used to analyze the data. Estimates of the stochastic frontier production function revealed that the coefficients of seeds, fertilizer, and agrochemicals were significant and positively related to maize output, while labour was negatively related to maize output. The input variables were jointly influencing maize output at decreasing returns to scale. The technical efficiency indices ranged from 0.34 to 0.97 with a mean of 0.75, indicating that the maize farmers in the study area were technically efficient in their production system, although they were operating below the frontier output. The study also revealed that seeds and fertilizer were risk-reducing inputs, while agrochemicals and labour were classified as risk-increasing inputs. The inefficiency model revealed that the technical efficiency of the farmers increased with age, education, extension contact, and land cultivation technique. The study concludes that the farmers were technically efficient, though below the frontier, and there is risk in the input used by the farmers. The study recommends that young educated people should join maize farming in the study area, farmers should use more seeds and fertilizer very well to stabilize output, and the government should encourage extension services and training for farmers.