project topic and material on ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF GUAVA (Psidiunguajava) PRODUCTION AMONG SMALL HOLDER FARMERS 

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

 

 

1.1 Background of the Study

 

 

Guava (Psidiumguajava) belong to the family Myrtaceae. It has been cultivated in Nigeria since early 17th  century and is one of the most common fruits in Nigeria (Mishra  et  al.,  (2000).  It  has  become  popular  because  of  its  availability  almost throughout  the  year.  It  occupies  an  important  place  immediately  after  Mango, Banana and Citrus (Malleswari, 1996). Guava is a medium sized tree with about thirty feet height. The tree does not demand any close attention as banana and citrus (Byresh, 2007). Guava is more resistant to drought than most of the fruit trees and  withstands  summer  temperature  as  high  as  460C  (Taiwo,2005).  The  crop  is adaptable  to  a  diversity  of  soil  and  climate  conditions.  It  is  found  to  grow satisfactorily in all parts of the country (Annon, 2005).It can be grown in the plains provided  sufficient  care  is  taken  to  shelter  the  trees  against  frost,  cold,  winds particularly in their first two or three year of growth. It also grows well even in zones of  scanty  rainfall  areas  such  as  in  the  north-eastern  part  of  Nigeria  provided irrigation facilities are available. (Anonymous, 2008).

Guava fruit is best relished when perfectly ripe and fleshly plucked from trees. It emits a sweet aroma and is pleasantly sweet and refreshingly acidic in flavor (Abu- Goukh and Bashir, 2003). Guava fruit contains moisture (82%), proteins (7%) and carbohydrate (11%); it also contains three to six times more vitamin C than orange, 10-30 times more than bananas and 50-60 times vitamin C than apple fruit (Mungai,

 

et al., 2000; Nyoro, et al., 2004). Except guava, no fruit is available throughout the year (Wilson, 1980). Because of high calorie value, guava fruit has achieved fame as ‘poor man’s’ apple in Nigeria. The “Strawberry Guava” notably contains only 30- 40mg of vitamin C per 100mg serving. Vitamin C content in the “Strawberry Guava” is still a high percentage (62%) (blankenship and dole,2003). Guava is very delicious fruit, many favourite and tasty items are made from guava and these products are imported all over the world such as, guava jelly, guava syrup, guava cheese, roll etc (Brown,  1980).  A  few  years  ago,  guava  may  have  been  domesticated  but  not cultivated commercially.

Guavas are also useful source of calcium, nicotinic acid, phosphorous and soluble fibre.  These  are  very  good  for  immune  system  and  are  beneficial  in  reducing cholesterol and protecting the heart, guava contains no saturated fat sodium or cholesterol. Guava would have become one of the most important fruits with the progress of caning and by product of industries. However, the guava holds out bright promise as one of the remunerative fruit crops all over Nigeria. This is cultivated in Kaduna and being supplied to many part of the country. The fruit is sour and is therefore utilized for processing into different products instead of being consumed as fresh fruit. In Nigeria, many variety grown are fleshy, juicy with agreeable sweet taste  and  therefore,  relished  more  fresh  fruits,  a  small  portion  is  utilized  for preservation. Guava is cultivated in almost all the districts in Kaduna State.

Guava products have great potentials, for example they serve as food for man and are also rich in unsaturated fatty acid and protein, but low in saturated fat and

 

soluble sugars. High level of poly unsaturated fatty acid which lower cholesterol level in blood and particularly with high nutritional significance (Nnandi, 1998). The uses of guava as industrial raw material, for the production of medicine, wine livestock feed, and in gallery has also be documented by some authors and organizations (Nnandi, 1998; Deckerset al., 2001; FAO, 2008). This means that guava products can meet both the food and industrial needs of Nigeria, apart from being an export crop. Guava production to keep pace with increasing demand in the international market, researchers must explore ways of increasing hecterage under cultivation, minimizing production cost and ensuring efficient utilization of resources in other to increase production to meet consumer demand both locally and internationally.

 

 

1.2 Problem Statement

 

 

Nigeria’s agricultural sector has over the year witnessed  tremendous decline in its contribution  to  the  national  development,  contributing  40.2%  of  gross  domestic product (GDP), in 2011 and  39.2% in 2012 (CBN, 2012). This has affected adversely the traditional role agriculture plays in the economy of Nigeria as a foreign exchange earner, and as a source of income and employment generation for farmers (Balogun, 2008).

Horticultural crop (guava) production in Nigeria has been hampered by the policy and fiscal constraints of the governments. It has received very little attention in the national perspective plan for agricultural development (Oseni, 2004). In addition, Nigeria has only one horticultural research institute, National Horticultural Research Institute (NIHORT)  established  in  1975  for  all horticultural  crops  (guava,  mango,

 

cashew, and pawpaw). NIHORT has developed many improved varieties of fruits that farmers could adopt in order to improve their income generation and output level.

Although, numerous technologies have been developed as a means to extend guava shelf-life and quality. Many farmers have adopted theses production technologies and are now investing in guava production enterprise in commercial scale. However, information on the level of production and profitability on this economic crop is lacking. This study therefore intends to provide answers to the following research questions:

 

i. What are the socio-economic characteristics of guava farmers?

 

ii. How profitable is guava production in the study area?

 

iii.What is the technical, allocative and economic efficiency of guava production

in the study area?

 

 

iv. What are the determinants of efficiency in guava production?

 

 

v. What is the contribution of guava production to household income?

 

 

vi. What is the potential impact of guava production to farmers’ income?

 

 

vii. What are the constraints to guava production in study area?

 

 

1.3   Objective of the Study

The main objective of this study was to analyze the economics of guava production among small holder’s farmers in Kaduna state. The specific objectives were to:

 

1.4 Justification of the Study

The study focused on the economic analysis of guava production among smallholder farmers in selected local government areas of Kaduna State. This study is expected to provide valuable information on profitability and production efficiency of growing guava to enable farmers consider its production as a viable option. The findings of this study when completed would be useful to farmers especially guava producers and other farmers specialized in other area of tree crops production.This would help farmers  and  other  agencies  by  identifying  problems  faced  guava  producersfor improvements.  Similarly,  the  study  would  provide  invaluable  information  to  the government of Kaduna State, as a basis for policy formulation for guava production in the State, It is hoped that this work would be of assistance to researchers and add to  the  existing  knowledge  in  guava  production  among  small  holder  farmers  in