The Potential in Catfish Production to Alleviate Poverty in Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined the economics of catfish production in Oyo State.A purposive sampling technique was employed to select 160 respondents and data were collected with the aid of well structured questionnaire. The findings revealed that majority (72.5%) of the catfish farmers were male with a mean age of 44.5 years, 78.8% were married, 40% have tertiary education, 70% have other occupation apart from catfish production. The mean pond size is between 600-1000m2 with average stocking density of 6,293 fingerlings. Cost and return analysis showed that the average fixed cost of catfish was N102, 761.92k and the average
variable cost was N1, 538,963.97k. The average total revenue from catfish production was N2, 430,500.31k with a gross margin of N891, 536.34k. The profitability ratio (BCR) is 1.48 which indicates that catfish production is a profitable business. There is a positive and significant relationship between drugs (B = 135.216), Feed (B=3.908), Fingerlings (B= 0.671) and output of cat fish. Also a negative but significant relationship exists between labour (B = -125.288), lime ( B= -106.802) and output. The result established that cat fish production is profitable and therefore have potentials to improve the poverty and the nutritional status of the respondents. It was recommended that there should be awareness campaigns to educate the masses on the potential of fish production to enhance food security and improve the economic status thereby empowering citizens especially women against poverty.