Comparative Economic Analysis of Cassava Mosaic Disease-Resistant Varieties and Non-Resistant Varieties Production in Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria

Comparative Economic Analysis of Cassava Mosaic Disease (CMD)-resistant Varieties and Non-Resistant Varieties (NRV) Production in Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria is the research. The CMD, which causes reduction in yield to about 20-30%, or 90-100% is a problem to farmers. Multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select 80 CMD-resistant varieties and 80 NRV farmers, while descriptive statistics, net farm income and production function analysis were used in analyzing the data. The study was to provide useful information to students, policy makers, investors and researchers to aid them in their various fields. The study revealed the socio-economic characteristics, such as farming experience, educational level, number of extension contact and farm size to positively influence the CMD-resistant varieties farmers' income. The R2 of 0.83454 variability in the income of the CMD-resistant farmers was explained by the socio-economic variables in the model. The R2 of 0.6696 variability for the non-CMD-resistant farmers' income was also explained by the socio-economic variables in the model. The CMD varieties production at ₦91,270 Net Farm Income against ₦41,170 of NRV productions, indicated both productions' profitability. Average rate of return indicated every Naira invested by CMD-resistant farmers, earned ₦2.49 profit, while NRV farmers earned ₦1.67 profit. CMD-resistant farming was thus, more profitable than the NRV farming. The Z-test of the mean income (3.5271) at 1% level of significance against tabulated Z-value (1.96) causes the hypothesis' rejection. Production of CMD-resistant varieties was more profitable and farmers are, advised to produce it and form cooperatives for .wider dissemination of research information.