ANALYSIS OF FRESH TOMATO MARKETING IN MUBI METROPOLITAN AREA, ADAMAWA STATE

The study analyzes fresh tomato marketing in Mubi metropolitan area. Primary data was the main source of data collected with the use of well-constructed questionnaire. Purposive and simple random sampling technique were adopted for the selection of respondents for the study. The analytical tools used include descriptive and inferential statistics such as Gini coefficient and gross margin The result of the study revealed that majority (49.9%) of the sampled fresh tomato marketers are in their most active age (31 to 40 years) with majority of them were male and were married and had no formal education and could not read or write effectively. 100% of the marketers belong to marketers association. The analysis of the study shows that majority of them engaged in marketing of fresh tomato as full time business and do not have any other business apart from it with few of the respondents were in the business for long period of time and (93.9%) of them obtained their initial capital outlay from their personal saving and this led to their (marketers) inability to operate large-scale business in the study area. The analysis also, indicated channel 2 (producer’s- wholesaler’s - retailer- consumers was the major channel of fresh tomato marketing and high inequality among fresh tomato marketers. This is an indication that there is fresh tomato marketers exercising control over the market price. The analysis of costs and returns per basket per day of fresh tomato marketing in the study area revealed that, it was a profitable and economically viable means of earning livelihood despite the constraints being encountered such that inadequate capital (rank 1), lack of storage facilities, seasonality and perish ability (rank 2. 3 and 4) were the major problem affecting fresh tomato marketing in the study area. Therefore, it is concluded that fresh tomato marketing in Mubi metropolitan area of Adamawa state is a profitable venture and economically viable means of earning livelihood with the gross margin of N1, 267, net income of N1, 215 and the gross ratio of 0.88 per basket per day, despite the problems encountered by the marketers and recommended that farmers should be encouraged to form cooperative societies so as to enable them obtain loans from commercial banks and agricultural and rural cooperative bank, at regulated interest rates.