Economics of faba bean production and marketing in the river nile state (A case Study of Eddamer District)

This study was conducted in Eddamer district of the River Nile State. The River Nile State is considered as one of the main suppliers of faba bean to the country. The production and marketing of faba bean in the River Nile State is faced by manifold problems such as low level of productivity, high cost of production, fluctuations of prices, inadequate credit and marketing arrangements. The study investigated the socio-economic characteristics of the farmers, and estimated the gross margins and nit returns of faba bean per feddan. The primary data was collected from a random sample of sixty farmers in the study area in 2003 using a structured questionnaire. The collected surveyed data was supplemented by secondary data from relevant sources. The descriptive statistical analysis of socio-economic characteristics revealed that the majority of the farmers were lliterate about 83.3, and that about half of the farmer holdings land between 5-10 feddans. About 82of the farmers irrigated their farms from the Nile water, and about 62were cultivators in public schemes. The partial budget analysis indicated that the irrigation cost was the highest, about 26of the total cost of production, and the transportation cost was the highest, about 64of the total cost of marketing. The productivity of faba bean was about 450 kg/fed. less than 50of ICARDA research. The regression analysis showed that the number of irrigation (per season), seed rate (kg/fed). credit (SD/fed), type of project and source of irrigation were the most important factors that significantly affect the yield of faba bean in the study area. The study also found faba bean that produced, faba bean reserved as seeds, educational level, and faba bean reserved for consumption by household were the most important factors that significantly affect the marketable surplus. For production and marketing improvement the study recommended the removal of faba bean production and marketing constraints, specially irrigation, provision of inputs on time, credit availability, establishment of market storage, and other market facilities.