ADOPTION OF IMPROVED HATCHERY PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGIES OF Clarias gariepinus (BURCHELL, 1822) AMONG FISH FARMERS IN SOUTHWEST NIGERIA

Abstract

Fish farming has appreciative return on investment, driving more investors into the enterprise. This has made demand for fish seed to increase significantly resulting in scarcity and this could be prevented by developing and adopting improved fish hatchery production technologies. This study investigated level of adoption of improved fish hatchery production technologies of Clarias gariepinus among fish farmers in Southwest Nigeria. The study employed simple random sampling technique to select 440 fish hatchery farmers. Data obtained were analysed using descriptive statistics and regression model. The findings indicated that research institutes (2.60) were the main source of information on improved fish hatchery production technologies. The result further revealed that awareness, trial and adoption of improved fish hatchery production technologies were high unfortunately some farmers discontinued some of the technologies after adoption. Results from regression analysis show that sex (0.46211), educational qualification (0.04953), number of worker/labour (0.07584), number of fish enclosure units (0.18647) and years of experience (0.04584) had positive and significant influence on adoption of improve fish hatchery production technologies. The study concludes that technology with high level of adoption had high discontinuance rate after some time. Therefore, technology with high level of discontinuance or with low level of adoption should be improved upon and disseminated appropriately.