Utilization and fish farmers’ willingness to pay for maggots as fish food in Ibi Local Government Area, Taraba State, Nigeria

Utilization of live maggots as fish food and fish farmers’ willingness to pay for this technology was investigated in Ibi Local Government Area, Taraba State. Sixty (60) fish farmers were randomly selected from each of the four Districts to obtain a total sample size of two hundred and twenty (240) respondents. Questionnaire and scheduled interview approach were used to obtain information from the respondents. Data obtained were analyzed through descriptive statistics such as (frequency and percentages) while Chi square at P<0.05 was used as inferential statistic. Majority (80.4%) of the fish farmers had information on live maggot as fish food, , indicated that fish fed live maggot grow faster (53.8%,) were willing to pay for live maggot (80.4%) while the biggest constraint to the use of live maggot as fish food is inability to get enough quantity to buy (78.3%). There is a significant relationship between willingness to pay and the utilization of live Maggot as fish food (P<.0.005). It was recommended that fish farmers should be encouraged to practice intensive system of fish cum poultry to generate enough quantity of maggot as feed to reduce the cost of fish production.