An assessment of the profitability of fish production systems in Ovia North East Local Government Area, Edo State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined the profitability of fish production system in Ovia North East Local Government Area of Edo State, Nigeria. The objectives of the study are to examine the socioeconomic characteristics of the fish farmers, estimate the profitability of the various fish production systems and identify the problems facing fish farmers in the study area. A combination of purposive and Snowball sampling procedure was used in selecting 70 fish farmers. Structured questionnaire and interview schedule were used to collect the primary data and were subjected to descriptive statistics, gross margin and profitability analysis. The study revealed that the mean age of the respondents was approximately 36 years while majority (76 %) of the respondents were males with. average household size of 5 persons while about 51 % of the respondents were single. On the average, the farming experience of the respondents was about 11 years. The result shows that 20 % of the respondents used earthen pond production system while 51 % used concrete pond. The results also showed that earthen pond fish users had on the average a total revenue of ₦475/kg of fish, concrete tank users had about ₦483.33/kg of fish as total revenue, plastic tank users had about ₦491.67/kg of fish, tarpaulin tank users had an average revenue of ₦440/kg of fish, while farmers that combine both concrete and plastic and those that combine both concrete and tarpaulin had a total revenue of ₦500/kg of fish and ₦450/kg of fish respectively. The results also showed that fish production was profitable in the production systems. Earthen pond fish users, concrete pond users, plastic pond users, Tarpaulin pond users, concrete and plastic pond users and concrete and tarpaulin pond users had net profits of ₦311.43, ₦264.46, ₦304.29, ₦353.87, ₦277.97 and ₦261.40. There is no significant difference between the profits earned in the various fish production systems at 5 % level of significance. The major constraints affecting the economic status of the respondents were inadequacy of sufficient funds, high cost of quality feed and unavailability of labour. It was recommended that catfish farmer in the study area can adopt any method of production and still make reasonable profit.Keywords: Fish production Systems, Gross margin and Profitability