PROFITABILITY ANALYSIS OF AQUACULTURE IN EKITI STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study utilized primary data collected from 80 respondents selected via multistage sampling procedure to analyzed the cost and return of aquaculture production in Ekiti State, Nigeria A predictive multiple regression model was estimated to determine the influence of cost of inputs on the farmer’s revenue. Profitability parameters such as Gross margin, Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR), Return on Investment (ROI) and Percentage Profitability (PP) were used to estimate the profitability of aquaculture. The result revealed personal savings (42.50%) as the major source of working capital and about 91.60 % of the production cost is incurred on feed, fingerlings and labour. Also, about 69% of the variation in net revenue in aquaculture production was accounted for by the costs of water, feed, fuel, labour, fingerlings and other cost. The values of the Gross Margin (N390, 942.80), Benefit-Cost Ratio (1.74), Return on Investment (0.74) and Percentage Profitability) (74.38) indicated that aquaculture is profitable in the study area. The result further revealed that 40.00 % of the respondents made a profit within the range of N 201,000 to N 300,000. Based on the findings, it is recommended that aquaculturists should learn how to formulate quality feeds from locally available ingredients to complement their usual supply Aquaculturists should also endeavor to organize themselves into cooperatives to facilitate their access to credit facilities. Public awareness is needed to further arouse the interest of individuals, especially youth to consider fish farming as wealth creation venture in the state.