Determinants of resource-use efficiency in fishery production in Oyo State

Abstract

Do farmers operate at the maximum level of efficiency in fish production? This study was carried out to examine the  determinants of technical efficiency in fish production in Ibadan, Oyo state. The result showed that farmers between 41  and 50 years had the highest average technical efficiency (0.66), technical efficiency of women fish farmers were higher  than that of male, 94% of the farmers had tertiary education and 70% of the farmers used hired labour. Pond size  (p≤0.05), feed (p≤0.01), family labour (p≤0.01) and farming experience (p≤0.05) significantly increased technical  efficiency, respectively. However, hired labour reduced the output (p≤0.05). Also, farming experience (X3), Education  (D1), Access to credit (D3), all had direct relationship with economic efficiency. The t-ratio showed that only education  (D1) is significant at 0.01 percent, while age (X1), Household size (X2 ), and Sex (D2 ) are not significant. Furthermore,  farming experience (X3), education (D1) and access to credit (D3) all had direct relationship with the technical efficiency. It is therefore recommended that Government at all levels should educate and give access to credit to encourage more  young females and active unemployed youths to develop interest in fish farming.