Feeding And Health Management Training Needs Of Rural Farmers For Sustainable Pig Farming In Enugu State
Nwosu Phina Ifeyinwa, Ph.D
Department of Technology and Vocational Education, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu.
Nwafor, S.O.
Department of Technology and Vocational Education, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu.
Keywords: Pig Farming, Feeding and Health Management, Training, Sustainability.
Abstract
The study focused on feeding and health management training needs of rural farmers for sustainable pig production in Enugu State. Survey research design was adopted. Three research questions and two null hypotheses tested at 0.05 level of significance guided the study. The population for the study was 170 respondents made up of 117 registered pig farmers and 53 agricultural extension agents. The number was manageable hence, there was no sampling, and structured questionnaire containing 55 items was the instrument for data collection. The reliability of the instrument was determined using Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient method. A correlation of 0.81 was obtained. A total of 170 copies of questionnaire were distributed, retrieved and analysed using weighted mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions and t-test was used to test the null hypothesis. It was found out that rural farmers highly need training in ability to identify suitable feed sources, formulate a balanced diet using cheap feed ingredients, disinfect pig house before arrival of new pigs, and immunize/vaccinate pigs to prevent diseases among others in Enugu State. The null hypothesis tested showed that there was no significant difference between the mean ratings of pig farmers and agricultural extension agents with respect to the training needs of rural farmers in feeding and health management of pigs for sustainable pig farming in Enugu State. Based on the findings, it was recommended that agricultural extension agents should organize workshops and seminars for rural farmers to improve their knowledge about feeding and health management of pigs and the identified skills should be used by skill acquisition centres for training the rural farmers and other people interested in pig production