Abstract

 The study analyzed the production and marketing risk of vegetable crop production in Osisioma Ngwa Local Government Area of Abia state Nigeria. The specific objective were to; determine the socio economic characteristics of the respondents, identify the various sources of risk in vegetable crop farming, determine the marketing margin and marketing efficiency of vegetable crops, determine the risk management practices adopted by the respondents, identify the factors that nl1ucnce output level of vegetable crop production and examine the constraints to vegetable crop production in the study area. Data were collected by means of multistage random sampling technique to select 40 vegetable crop fanners and 40 vegetable crop marketers from the study area through a well-structured questionnaire. Dula were analyzed using descriptive statistical tools, multiple regression and marketing margin and efficiency analysis. The result of the marketing margin analysis gave a value of 42.85% which means that the difference between farm gate price and retail price is small in vegetable crop market in the study area, marketing efficiency analysis gave a value of 40.659% indicating inefficiency in vegetable crop marketing in the study area. The result of multiple regression analysis gave coefficient of regression (R) value of 0.917 which means that the explanatory variables considered in the analysis contributed or accounts for about 91.7% or the total variations in the dependent variable. It proved that transportation cost, quantity sold, experience, age, marital status and cooperative membership were significant. The study also made some recommendations such as; establishment of financial institutions e.g. agricultural micro finance bank which will facilitate the farmer's access to credit to help boost their capital base and establishment of insurance firms companies in the study area to contribute to the sources of agricultural credit and increase the farmer's chances of having access to credit which will also serve as a way of reducing the effect of risk