Comparative Estimation of the Costs and Returns of Integrated Fish-Based Farming Systems in Kaduna Metropolis, Nigeria

The present study was conducted to know the costs and returns of three integrated fish-based farming (IFF) systems in Kaduna metropolis of Nigeria during 2015 to 2016 farming season. Primary data were collected through the structured questionnaire from 138 fished-based farmers and analyzed using net farm income and ANOVA. The results indicated that among the three integrated farming systems, fish-poultry farming was the most profitable farming with a net income of N1,166,441.80 and BCR of 1.69 followed by fish-vegetable farming with net income of N770,708.87 and BCR of 1.31. The least was fish-pig farming with a net income of N759, 052.11 and BCR 1.25. The ANOVA results showed that the calculated F value of 12.08 was significant at 1% probability level, implying that there was a significant difference in the profitability of the three fish-based farming systems in the study area. It was recommended that government and the private sector should provide adequate funding for livestock research that has to do with development of low cost, high quality feeds using local feed materials and manufacturing/fabrication of local machines.