APPRAISAL OF MANAGEMENT PRACTICES OF SNAIL FARMING IN BENIN METROPOLIS, EDO STATE, NIGERIA

An appraisal of the management practices of snail farming in Benin Metropolis of Edo State, Nigeria was done. The socio-economic characteristics of the respondents, the snail management practices according to management systems and culture practices, the level of snails output, cost, returns and profitability from the management practices, and the constraints to snail production in the study area were the specific objectives of the study. Snow balling sampling technique was adopted to identify a total of 30 snail farmers in the study area and this formed the sample size for the study. Data collection was done through the use of structured questionnaire, direct observation, and personal interview. The work was analysed using descriptive statistics, budgetary analysis and likert scale. The results showed that majority of the respondents were males (83.4%) between the age bracket of 41 and 50 (40%), married (33.4%), had farming experience of 0-4 years (53.3%) and had tertiary education (56.7%). The results also showed that majority of the snail farmers adopted management practices that are in line with best standard practices and had average stock size and average output of 4317.8 snails each. The cost and return analysis revealed that for snail farms that are 2 to 3 years old, TC incurred during the production period was N1,157,631.00(100%), while TR of N2,225,861.20 was realized with a NFI of N1,068,230.00(92.2%) and NROI was N0.92. For snail farms that are 4 years and above, average TC incurred was N6,404,840.70 (100%) while TR was N16,138,530.00 and NFI was N9,733,689.30 (152.70%). NROI was N1.52. Results about constraints facing the snail farmers in the study area showed that only 3 of the 12 constraints presented were rated as serious, which are low capital (2.68), epileptic power supply (2.75) and inaccessibility to land (3.0). It was concluded that the management practices adopted by majority of the snail farmers were in accordance to best standard practices and that snail farming is a very profitable venture as justified by a NROI of N1.52. It was recommended that low income earners and women be sensitized to venture into snail farming, snail farmers be encouraged to restock foundation stock every 2 months to guarantee regular income, the need by government to establish snail research and breeding institutes, make funds readily available to farmers, encourage programs that provides farms inputs free of charge to farmers and mop up the produce, and finally, policy formulation drive of government be channeled towards achieving large scale snail production in Nigeria. Key: TC= Total cost, TR= Total Revenue, NFI= Net Farm Income, NROI= Net Return on Investment.