Demand Preference of Consumers as a Catalyst for Local Rice Supply in Niger State

Abstract

The research looked at Demand preference as it affects local rice supply in Niger State, Nigeria. Multi – stage sampling method was employed to obtain 125 household consumers of local Rice. The sampling of respondents cut across Agricultural zones 1, 2 and 3 of Niger State. Primary and Secondary data were used. Descriptive statistics like mean, frequency tables and percentages were employed to describe the socio – economic characteristics of the respondents. Vector Autoregressive model (VAR) was used to estimate production variables that granger caused local Rice supply. . Hedonic model was used to determine the effect of local Rice characteristics on the preference and willingness to pay by consumers. The result indicated the mean age of 45 for Niger. The household size has mean of 6 and years spent in school stood at 17 for Niger. The annual income mean were 414 thousand naira for Niger State. The granger causality equations show that, all variables granger caused production of local, Rice in Niger States except dlnarea. The dlnarea in Niger State was not significant. This means that it does not granger caused local Rice production. The result of hedonic model revealed that free from stone, whiteness, aroma, cohesion and taste were all significant. This means that all these attributes have great effect on price, preference and willingness to pay higher price for local Rice. These will encourage the producers to produce more and will lead to higher supply in the market.