Nigerian Journal of Rural Sociology (NJRS), 11( 1): , 2010

DETERMINANTS OF PRODUCTION AND TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY OF FISH IN ABIA STATE, NIGERIA: STOCHASTIC FRONTIER APPROACH

Igwe K. C., Igwe C. O. K., Nwafor I. N. O

Abstract

The program frontier (version 4.1c) for stochastic production investigation was used for analysis to examine the factors that affect fish farming in Abia State as well as the determinants of technical efficiency of fish production. Data generated for the study were drawn across fish farmers in the three agricultural zones. Fifty respondents were used for the study. The research findings reveal that the number of fingerlings stocked and the pond size were the major determinants of fish production while the age of the farmers and their stock size determined majorly their technical efficiency of production. Although the fish farmers were reasonably technically efficient given a mean score of about 90 percent, there is yet a 10 percent chance of increasing the level of technical efficiency with the available technology at their disposal.


Keywords: Technical efficiency, fish farming, stochastic frontier, Abia State


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