Factor price analysis of characteristics influencing Sokoto Gudali Cattle breed in Karra-Jebba market in Niger state, Nigeria

This study was carried out to highlight and analyze characteristics influencing Sokoto Gudali cattle breed prices in Karra cattle market in Niger State. Mokwa Local Government was purposively selected based on high concentration of cattle and cattle marketers in Karra cattle market, via Jebba North. The market also serve as the mid-point between the cattle merchants in the Northern and Western region of the country. A total of 130 cattle merchants were randomly selected by truncation on weekly basis for period of 7 months. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Gini-coefficient, and multiple regressions were employed to analyze the physical characteristics that determines the choice of cattle breed and prices. The result of the study revealed that all the respondents (100%) were males having mean age of 41 years. About 75 percent of the respondents were married and 70 percent of the merchants were small-scale merchants, 18.40% medium scale merchants and 11.54% were large-scale merchants. The Ginni co-efficient of 0.474 shows that the market structure in the area is that of competitive. The regression results indicated colour of the ear, shape of the cattle face and type of horn were the factors that influenced the buyer's preference. However, the result of the regression model also shows that female cattle (cow), big carcass size, short horn cattle and height were found to be statistically significant (P<0.10), P<0.01), (P<0.10) and (p<o.10) respectively, with positive coefficient across all the models, which implies that for any unit increase in these variables, buyers will be willing to pay more premium on cattle characteristics studied. It was therefore recommended that research efforts should target the characteristics of these cattle that buyers are sensitive to, so as to enhance profitability of cattle husbandry and marketing.