EFFECT OF INFORMATION UTILIZATION ON FISH FARMERS’ LEVEL OF PRODUCTION IN ABEOKUTA NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, OGUN STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The use of information on improved fish farming techniques has been seen to be ineffective due to the inability of the farmer to comprehend information passed across to them which is reflected on the continuous reduction in fish production and the reason why it seems like there is no positive effect of the information utilized by fish farmers on their productivity; hence, this study examined the effect of information utilization on fish farmers’ level of production in Abeokuta north local government area, Ogun state, Nigeria. A total of 80 respondents were selected. Primary data were collected with the use of a well-structured questionnaire and interview schedule. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were employed for the study. Mean age of respondents was 46 years. Furthermore, majority were male which had tertiary education and kept Catfish. The mean income earned was #858, 275. Commonly used improved fish farming practices were feed formulation technique and feeding operation. This study found an average increase in output-to-input ratio to be 0.68 kg per fish fingerlings stocked (nearly two-fold increase; 0.29 kg per fish fingerlings) after utilization of information. Profit increase/improved income of fish farmers through information utilization on improved fish farming practices was found to be positively correlated with years spent schooling, stocking rate before information utilization, stocking rate after information utilization at 5% level of significance, and annual income while output before information utilization and output after information utilization at 1% level of significance. The study concluded that information utilization on improved fish farming practices had positively influenced (harvest) output of catfish farmers in the study area. The study recommends that extension agent to farmer ratio needs to be improved on, so that regular and prompt visits could be made to fish farmers to intensify information utilization on improved fish farming practices.