ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF WATERMELON PRODUCTION IN WARJI LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF BAUCHI STATE

Abstract

This paper is entitled “Economic Analysis of Watermelon Production in Warji Local Government Area of Bauchi State. The main objective of the study is to analyze socio economic characteristic of sample respondents, analyze of cost of production per hectare, return and profitability of watermelon production. Out of the two districts of Warji Local Government Area, a total of four (4) villages and 85 respondents were randomly selected out of the population. Average size of land holding of respondents was 2.65 hectares and majority of the respondents were in working age group of 20 to 49 years (58.23%). Most of the respondents are secondary graduate (44.29%). Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics and gross margin. Budgetary analysis shows a high profitability of watermelon, with gross margin of ₦2.18 realized for every ₦1 invest on watermelon per hectare. The result of the analysis also indicated that total cost was N3,254,250 and the total revenue was N7,109,600. This gave a gross margin of N3,855,350 of watermelon produced.