PROFITABILITY ANALYSIS OF MARKETING TOMATO IN ODEDA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF OGUN STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study assessed profitability of tomato marketing in Odeda Local Government Area,Ogun State. Primary data collected from 80 marketers from Olodo and Kila markets througha two-stage sampling technique were analyzed using descriptive statistics, budgetary techniques, student-t statistic and OLS regression model. Results showed that marketers in both markets were all females with an average age of 35 and 33 years in Olodo and Kila, respectively; About 45% and 38.% of the marketers in Olodo and Kila markets were married with an average household size of 5 (42.5%) and 4 (30%) persons, respectively. However,
35% each had 11 – 15 years marketing experience in both markets. Budgetary analysis showed that Olodo and Kila marketers had an average net profit of N16,300 and N11,550/basket/month with rate of return on investment of 0.35 and 0.21, respectively. The major constraints associated with tomato marketing were high cost of purchasing tomato (32.5% in Olodo and 25.0% in Kila), inadequate preservation (17.5% in Olodo and 15.0% in Kila), and high transportation cost (15.0% in Olodo and 20.0% in Kila). Regression analysis showed that transportation cost (p < 0.05), household size (p < 0.01) and income (p < 0.1) were the determinants of tomato marketing margin in both markets. T-test showed that there was a significant difference (p < 0.05) between the net profit of marketers in both markets. Tomato marketing was a profitable enterprise in the study area. It was recommended that identified constraints be addressed to enhance greater tomato marketing profit in the study area.