Land Access and Tenure Impacts on Technical Efficiency of Rice Farmers in Ondo State, Nigeria

Background and Objective: Land policy measures need to regulate land tenure and access for a couple of agricultural development actions. This study examined the relationship between land access, tenure system and technical efficiency among rice farmers in Ondo State, Nigeria. Materials and Methods: Only 90 respondents were selected due to low population of rice farmers. Data collection was based on the structured questionnaire and the data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and stochastic frontier analysis (SFA). Results: The major results revealed that communal land tenure and inherited land are prevalent land ownerships among farmers. The technical efficiency of the rice farmers ranged from 0.01 to 0.90, with a mean technical efficiency of 0.615. It was found that rice output increases with labour and farm size but decreases with fertilizer use. Also, technical efficiency decreases with native farmers, land tenure and rented and inherited land access. Conclusion: The study concludes that the patterns of land access and tenure should be reformed to enhance the potential of rice productivity and revitalize the present bad economic system in Nigeria. It was recommended that the bondage placed on land via tenure patterns that are retarding technical efficiency in Nigerian agriculture be liberated.