A Comparative Study on Fluted Pumpkin Production in the Niger Delta, Nigeria

Abstract

The study compared the differences in the fluted pumpkin production in Rivers and Akwa Ibom States, Nigeria. The study described the socio-economic characteristics of the farmers and estimated the differences in level of profit achieved in the fluted pumpkin production in the study area. A simple random sampling technique was adopted in the selection of 340 respondents. Data was collected using personal interview, observations, structured questionnaire and farm records. Descriptive statistics, net income model and z- test were the analytical tools used. The results showed that majority of the respondents were females with 64.4%. The gross margin in Rivers State farm was ₦89,063.06 with a net profit of ₦84,609.91 while the gross margin in Akwa Ibom State was ₦65,224.75 with a net profit of ₦61,963.52. The result  indicated a z- statistic  value of -283.174, with a p value of 0.000, implying that under a two tailed test, the mean difference in the net profit between  Rivers and Akwa Ibom farms varied significantly at 1 percent level. Therefore the null hypothesis that there is no significant difference between the net profit of fluted pumpkin production in the floodplain areas of Rivers and Akwa Ibom States was rejected.

Keywords: comparative, fluted pumpkin, production, Niger Delta, Nigeria