International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR) ISSN: 2319-7064 ResearchGate Impact Factor (2018): 0.28 | SJIF (2018): 7.426 Volume 8 Issue 7, July 2019 www.ijsr.net Licensed Under Creative Commons Attribution CC BY Comparative Analysis of Rainfed and Dry Season Rice Farming in Value Chain Development Programme in Ayamelum Local Government Area- Anambra State Obianefo C.A. 1 , Aguaguiyi N.F. 2 , Umebali E.E. 3 , Ezeano C.I. 4 1 Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, PMB 5051 Awka, Nigeria 2 Department of Agribusiness and Management, Michael Okpara University, Umudike 3, 4 Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, PMB 5051 Awka, Nigeria Abstract: Nigeria agricultural sector rely heavily on rainfed farming system, this has seen a wide gap in the annual rice demand- supply trend in the country. Thus, the importance of the study on comparative analysis of rainfed and dry season rice farming in value chain development programme in Ayamelum Local Government Area, which focused primarily on socioeconomic characteristics, profitability, and challenges faced by rice farmers in the area cannot be overemphasized. The study used a multi-stage sampling technique to elicit information from 70 rainfed and 30 dry season rice farmers. Combination of statistical tools of the descriptive, budgetary model and inferential statistics of unequal variance t-test was utilized. The finding had a mean age was 47 years and 46 years for rainfed and dry season respectively. This suggests that dry season rice farmers are younger in the area. Also, the mean farming experience was found to be 11 years and 15 years, this equally suggest that dry season rice farmers are better experienced in the area. The mean farm size of 1.98ha for rainfed against 1.14ha for dry season rice farming suggests that more lands are available for rainfed rice farming. Furthermore, the difference in profit was N 72,794.81 significant at t-value of 22.83**. Some of the challenges recorded by rain-fed rice farmers include; cattle menace, high cost of labour, and competition. The challenges recorded by dry season rice farmers include; high cost of pumping machine, more incidence of birds attack, and high cost of inputs. Evidently, dry season rice farming is more profitable. Keywords: Rainfed, Net returns, Benefit-cost ratio, Operational expenses 1. Introduction According to the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) (2013), rice is a staple food for more than 3.5 billion people in the world. Rice is an important cash crop in Nigeria that has been found to thrive under four main ecologies (rainfed upland, shallow swamp & inland valley swamp, irrigated lowland, and mangrove or tidal swamp ecology) suitable for different rice varieties (Imolehin and Wada, 2005:12). United State Department of Agriculture (USDA) (2014), asserts that rice is one of the fastest growing commodities in Nigeria’s food basket with likelihood of continued growth, increased demand for rice in Nigeria is attributed to rapid population growth, urbanization and people’s preference for rice as convenience food (Akande, 2003; USDA, 2014). Foyeku and Rice Millers, Importers and Distributors Association of Nigeria (RIMIDAN) (2019), opined than annual rice demand in Nigeria is 7 million tonnes of milled rice but paddy production as at December ending 2017 was 5 million tonnes. These 5 million tonnes represents about 56% milled rice, this suggests that rice farmers in Nigeria only contributed 2.5 million tonnes to the quantity demanded. Thus, a huge gap (4.5 million metric tonnes) exist in the demand-supply chain in Nigeria and the deficit is bridged by importation. Despite the suitable ecology and edaphic rice environment for rice production, Nigeria is battling to attain self-sufficiency in rice production and supply (Imolihen and Wada, 2005). Rice production in Nigeria is mainly in the hand of small- scale rice growers cultivating about 0.5 to 3 hectares, these small-scale farmers supply about 80% of rice produced in Nigeria (IRRI, 2013). Though, attempt to increase rice production in Nigeria, the federal government loaned out N 43 billion through Anchor Borrowers Programme of the federal ministry of agriculture to 293,000 rice farmers which in turn produced rice that was sold at N 193 billion (Ogbeh, 2018). This noble gesture of the federal government increased paddy output from 5 million tonnes in 2015 to 17 million tonnes in 2018. According to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD, 2018), Nigeria will soon export her excess parboiled rice to Liberia, Ghana and Sierra Leone. This means that international market waits for rice farmers in Nigeria. On the other hand, Anambra state alone demands 320,000mt of rice per annum (Anambra state Agricultural Development Programme (ADP, 2018). Thus, to meet this huge demand, Anambra state value chain development programme (ANSVCDP) encouraged rice farmers participating in the programme with the provision of tube-well, water pumping machine and dry season farm inputs at 50% subsidy. This will enable them to farm all year round. Paper ID: ART20198913 10.21275/ART20198913 1655