Effect of pond rental market system on aquaculture farmers in the coastal communities of Nigeria

ABSTRACT The study assessed the effect of renting pond on aquaculture farmers’ productivity in the coastal communities of Nigeria. Multistage sampling technique was used to collect primary data for the study. Data were collected from two hundred and forty (240) aquaculture farmers. Net Profit Margin Ratio (NPMR) was used to determine the profitability of both pond rentals and non-pond rentals. Endogenous Switching Regression Model was used to analyze the effects of renting pond on the productivity of the aquaculture farmers. Result of NPMR revealed that the pond rental aquaculture farmers’ profitability was 9.95% higher than that of non-pond rental farmers. Result of the ESR showed that pond rental aquaculture farmers’ productivity was 9.73 kg/m2 and non-rentals was 7.22 kg/m2. The difference represents increase in productivity of pond rental aquaculture farmers by 34.76%. Hence, aquaculture farmers should be encouraged to participate in pond rental market system to increase their profitability and productivity.