Abstract

A survey was conducted in the Southern Agricultural zone of Nasarawa State, north central Nigeria, to assess the intensity of adoption of improved fisheries technologies among fish farmers. A sample of 100 fish farms out of the 202 existing farms identified during the survey was randomly selected for the study. A structured interview schedule was administered to the managers of the selected fish farms to elicit information. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. The results show that the rate of adoption of selected improved technologies among fish farmers in the study area was high (53.04%), with five of the technologies topping the adoption index. These were the use of improved fingerlings (94%) adoption rate (94%), floating feeds (92%), inlet/outlet devices (90%), daily sanitary practices and record-keeping (82%). Most of the respondents were small-scale producers with a mean stocking rate of 4,834 fingerlings. Private fisheries consultants were the major sources of information used by the respondents. The major recommendations to ensure increased fish production by the respondents include: Fish farmers should form cooperative groups in order to gain easy access to credit; special training in on-farm feed formulation should be organized for fish farmers; and government should provide storage and processing facilities for fish farmers as well as improved electricity supply to enhance production.

Key words: Adoption, improved fisheries technologies, fish farmers, Nasarawa State, Nigeria.