PRODUCTIVITY OF CATFISH PRODUCTION IN OSUN STATE, NIGERIA

^*Olajide Oyebisi O., and Omonona B.T.

Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Ibadan, Ibadan Nigeria.

*Corresponding Author’s Contact Details: Email address ✉: bislaj05@gmal.com, Phone No ☎: +2348063316255

Accepted December 22, 2019

The decline and shortage in animal protein among households in Nigeria has led to unbalanced food consumption and malnutrition among rural households. Therefore, this study examined the Productivity of catfish production in Egbedore and Ede North Local Government Areas of Osun State. A multi-stage sampling; purposive and random sampling technique were used to select 131 catfish farmers with structured questionnaires used to collect data in the study areas. Descriptive statistics, Profitability analysis, Total Factor Productivity (TFP) and a multiple regression model were used to analyze data. Results showed that majority (87.79%) of the catfish farmers were males and married with a mean age of 49 years and more than three-quarter (89.31%) had tertiary education. The average gross margin of ₦788,823.54 and average profit of ₦413,012.27 per production season (5–6 months) and Benefit-Cost Ratio of 1.06 indicate that catfish farming is profitable, feasible and worth venturing into. TFP was found to be 11.32. The high ratio indicates the more the amount of variable input used the more the output. Regression result indicates that years of farming experience, quantity of feed used and cost of hired labour were positively significant at 10%, 1% and 1% respectively with output of catfish sold in naira. This means as more money is expended on the quantity of feed used, cost of hired labour and increased years of farming experience in the catfish business, the output in catfish production increases and thereby brings about increase in total revenue. Stocking density, pond size, cost of fingerlings, type of water use, and cost of transportation have negative relationships with output of catfish production though significant at different levels except pond size that is not significant at any level. The major constraints identified are poor access to credit facility, high cost of feed and unorganized market for producer and marketer relationship. Therefore, it is recommended that farm inputs most especially feed should be subsidized by governments to encourage effective use of inputs to increase catfish production and subsequently, the productivity of farmers. Also, government should also assist farmers in giving out soft loan in order to boost their scales of operation and their economic potentials.

Key words: Total Factor Productivity, Gross Margin, Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR), Profitability, Regression.

Full Text PDF (390 KB)