ISHS Acta Horticulturae 380: Symposium on Tropical Root Crops in a Developping Economy
AN ECONOMIC EXAMINATION OF CONSTRAINTS AND OPPORTUNITIES IN YAM (DIOSCOREA SPP.) PRODUCTION IN FAKO DIVISION, CAMEROON |
| Authors: | E. T. Acquah, Nganje W. Evange |
| DOI: | 10.17660/ActaHortic.1994.380.57 |
| Abstract:
The opportunities in yam production are mostly constrained by labor and planting materials. This paper discusses the contribution of labor and planting materials to yam production, and the productivity of the factors of production. The empirical study used cross-sectional data collected from a formal survey of 69 farmers with a stratified randomized sampling technique. Multiple regression analysis was used to estimate a Cobb-Douglas production function which underlined yam production in the study area. The estimated Cobb-Douglas production function was highly significant with a coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.70. The results revealed that the estimated coefficients of planting materials, labor, and land were positive and significant. These three values accounted for 88.9%, 49.6%, and 25.1% variation of the output respectively. To solve the labor constraint, it is recommended that research effort in mechanization of land preparation and the use of herbicide should be intensified. To relax the constraint in planting material, the use of micropropagation through tissue culture for mass production of healthy and cheap planting materials is recommended. | |
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