Output Supply and Inputs Demand Elasticities of Small-Scale Onion Production in Nigeria’s Kano State

The presented study analyzed the structure of onion production in Nigeria’s Kano State using a pseudo-profit function, a symmetric normalized quadratic profit function (translog), and constant elasticity of substitution. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select a representative sample size of 132 respondents, and a well-structured questionnaire, complemented with an interview schedule, was used to elicit cross-sectional data. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were employed to achieve the specified objectives. Empirically, onion is a viable enterprise in the study area, and input substitution at various combination levels has a complementary effect. Furthermore, the change in the quantity supplied of onion is in conformity with the a priori expectation; the change in output supply is also in conformity with a priori expectations with respect to inputs costs – only seeds, NPK fertilizer, and petrol-engine oil exerted a significant influence. Nevertheless, profit in onion production was influenced by output price, wage rate, NPK fertilizer, and petrol-engine oil. However, ten challenges hovered around onion production, viz. poor market information, climate change issues, inadequate public-private investment, and problems related to the land tenure system, among others. Therefore, to enhance output supply, the onus lies on policymakers to devise a realistic approach that will address the poor pricing efficiency of input prices in the study area.