ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF CATFISH PRODUCTION

ABSTRACT

The study was conducted to examine the economics of catfish production in Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area, Edo state, Nigeria. Two-stage sampling technique was used to select 100 respondents for the study. Data were collected using structured questionnaire. Information was collected on socioeconomic characteristics, inputs and output quantities as well as their prices. Descriptive statistics were used to describe socioeconomic characteristics as well as the constraints to catfish production. The findings revealed that majority of the respondents were literate with mean age of 37 years; majority (80.21%) of the respondents had a mean household size of 3 people while most (76.04%) of the respondents had a mean of 4 years experience in catfish farming. The result also shows that an average total cost (ATC) of ₦6,533,102.51 was incurred while total revenue (TR) of ₦13,826,600.00 was realized with a gross margin (GM) of ₦7,710,670.89. A net farm income (NFI) of ₦1,177,568.38. The most severe constraints to catfish farming in the study area were: poor power supply, disease outbreak, inadequate capital, high cost of pond construction, labour shortage, high cost of feed and theft. It was concluded that catfish production in the study area is profitable and cost of feed constitute the major cost of catfish production in the study area. It was recommended that Catfish production has great potentials in the study area; Government should formulate policies that will create an enabling environment and attract more youths to invest in catfish production.