A Comparative Profit Analysis of Catfish (Clarias Gariepinus) Production in Ughelli, Delta State, Nigeria.

This  research was  conducted  using  the  same  feeding  regime  and  stocking  density  to  determine  the effect of using two different fish rearing facilities (earthen pond and concrete tank) of the same size (9m x 9m x 1.4 m) each  on the profitability  of  fish  raised  to market  size  in  six months. Results  showed  that  final mean weight (initial mean weight 13g/fish of catfish (Clarias gariepinus)  was  greater  in  earthen  pond  (0.62 kg)  than  in  concrete  tank  (0.53 kg).  Despite the higher survival rate  of 70%  recorded  in  concrete  tank  as  against  65%  for  earthen pond, the results further showed that the size of fish harvested affected the biomass, which negatively affected the profitability. The  fish harvested from the earthen  pond  gave  a profit  margin of  N78,770.00  as  against  the N61,000.00  from  concrete  tank pond. The profit margin difference of N 17,765.00 realized between the two structures demonstrates that, final mean weight of fish reared to market size was greatly influenced by culture media. Keywords: Profit margin, concrete tank, earthen pond, catfish

Micro-Credit Access and Profitability on Crop Production in Orhionmwon Local Government Area of Edo State, Nigeria

This study focused on the effect of micro-credit on the profitability of crop production in Orhionmwon Local Government Area of Edo State, Nigeria. A sample size of 166 small-scale farmers was randomly selected from the farming communities in Orhionmwon Local Government Area. Ninety two (92) beneficiaries and 74 non-beneficiaries were randomly selected from the study area. A well-structured questionnaire and scheduled interviews were used to obtain data from the farmers. The data collected were subjected to descriptive statistics such as frequency counts, percentages and mean scores. The mean scores were compared using the t-test. Results showed that the respondents in the study area were almost uniformly distributed gender-wise. The females were however slightly more, both among the beneficiaries (58.7%) and non-beneficiaries (52.7%). The mean years of farming for both the credit beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries were 32 years and 34 years respectively. Most of the farmers had farm holdings less than 2.5 ha. The profit margin obtained from the beneficiaries was higher than that of the non-beneficiaries. For maize, it was N145,40.66/ha against N139,178.69/ha, for yam, N671,588.06/ha against N552,927.93/ha, for cassava N377,194.99/ha against N223,000.74/ha and for plantain N681,416.68/ha against N430,756.59/ha. Untimely delivery of loan was indicated as the greatest constraint to loan acquisition by the beneficiaries while the non-beneficiaries identified high interest rate charges by the microfinance bank and distance as the greatest reasons for not accessing loans

Soaring prices of food staples and the implications for food security: The case of rice in Edo State, Nigeria.

This paper examined the soaring prices of food staples with emphasis on rice in Edo State, Nigeria covering the period 1990-2005. Specifically, the study examined the nature of the price movement and the quarterly trend between markets for rice in Edo State, Nigeria and the price relationship of rice within the markets. The rates of increase in price of rice in the rural and urban markets were also determined. Also, the differences in rice prices between the rural and urban markets were tested if they were significant. The prices used were derived from the daily prices of rice collected by staff of the Edo State Agricultural Development Programme (EADP) from the various markets in Edo State, Nigeria. The data were analyzed using simple descriptive statistics (such as means, standard deviations, tables, graphs etc.) and multiple regression analysis. The study revealed that the price of rice for both markets (rural and urban) started rising from the second quarter through to the third before peaking in the fourth quarter. Generally, urban market prices were higher than that of the rural market prices. However, for four consecutive years (1996 – 1999), the rural market prices were higher than urban prices by 7.14 %, 3.46 %, 1.12 % and 4.89 % respectively. The observed mean annual price increase was 15.56 % and 16.49 % for rural and urban markets respectively. When the differences between the rural and urban market prices for the period were compared using the Student t-test, they were significantly different from each other at the 95 % confidence level. The regression analysis showed that the price of rice had no significant relationship with the prices of other food staples in the rural market. However, the relationships observed were both complementary and competitive. The urban markets had no competitive relationship. Due to the disparity in prices between the rural and urban markets, it is recommended that government should direct its effects towards stabilizing the price of fuel and create motorable roads in the rural areas where rice is produced in order to close up the considerable price disparity between the rural and urban markets