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Maize is one of the most commonly consumed crops in Maiduguri and most studies in the study area have focused on either its production or consumption with few or none that take cognizance of the determinants that affect its price. In filling this gap, this study has examined the determinants of price fluctuation of maize in Maiduguri metropolis of Borno state, Nigeria. Data was collected from sixty marketers using a structured questionnaire from four prominent grain markets in Maiduguri. Descriptive statistical tools and inferential statistics (Ordinary Least Square) were employed to analyse the data. The results showed that cost of transportation, quantity demanded and cost of storage positively influenced price fluctuation of maize in the study area. Some of the major constraints perceived to have hindered smooth maize marketing in the study area were distance to market, cost of transportation and lack of storage facilities. It is recommended, among others, that a good road network that connects areas of production to markets should be made available to provide the required market demand and curtail price fluctuation.

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The study was conducted to analyze cost and return of sesame production in Hong L.G.A of Adamawa State, Nigeria. Multi stage sampling technique was used to select fifty-seven sesame farmers in the study area. Data were collected using structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using gross margin analysis and descriptive statistics. The results revealed labour cost accounted for 68.1% of the total cost of production. Cost of fertilizer accounted for 20.3%, cost of chemical accounted for 7.8% while cost of seed accounted for 3.8%. On the average, it cost N 47,451.35/ha to cultivate sesame in the study area. An average of N 65,053/ha accrues to farmers as gross income and N 17, 601.65 is left as gross margin. The result of constraints faced by sesame farmers were lack of credit facility 94.7% which was ranked 1st, inadequate fertilizer 93.0% which was ranked 2nd, lack of good road 82.5% which was ranked 3rd, poor extension services 77.2% which was ranked 4th, problem of pest 71.9% which was ranked 5th, problem of disease 70.2 which was ranked 6th, and high cost of production inputs 56.1% which was ranked 7th. The study concludes that sesame production in the study area is profitable and the major constraints faced by sesame farmers is lack of credit facility and inadequate fertilizer. Therefore, it was recommended that government should support sesame farmers by providing subsidized production inputs and farm credit and also government should strengthen and increase extension services among farmers.

The study was conducted to examine the resource use efficiency of sesame production in Hong L.G.A of Adamawa State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling technique was used to select fifty seven sesame farmers in the study area. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis. The results revealed that high percentage (57.9%) of the respondents were female, 91.2% were married and 54.4% were within the age bracket of 31-50 years. Among the farmers, 35.1% attended tertiary institution, most (56.1%) of them had a household size of 3-6 persons and 70% of them had no extension visit. The study also revealed that the majority (70.2%) of the sesame farmers had farm size of 1-2 hectares, 33.3% had a farming experience of 10-15 years, and many had no access to credit (91.%) and membership of cooperatives (86%). The results showed that effects of labour, fertilizer, farm size, chemical and seed were positive and statistically significant. R2 of 90.0% and F-ratio of 65.5 were recorded for the inputs. The study showed that the production inputs (especially labour and seed) contributed to sesame production output and production resources were under-utilized by the farmers.