APPRAISAL OF BIO-SECURITY MEASURES AMONG POULTRY FARMERS IN NASSARAWA STATE, NIGERIA.

Abstract

The study assessed the bio-security measure employed by poultry farmers in Nasarawa State, Nigeria, the objectives of the research were to examine socio-economic characteristics of the poultry farmers; identify the sources of information on bio-security measures used by farmers; examine the types of bio-security measures adopted by the poultry farmers; determine the factors influencing bio-security measures adopted by the poultry farmers and; examine the constraints associated with the adoption of bio-security measure by the poultry farmers in the study area. Data was collected from randomly selected 60 poultry farmers using well-structured questionnaire and interview schedule. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and multiple regressions. The result shows that mean age, farming experience and flock size was 35 years, 7years and 6363 birds respectively. Almost all (93.33%) of the respondents had tertiary level of education. The majority (73.33%) of the farmers sourced bio-security information from veterinary officer and co-poultry farmers (58.33%). Major bio-security measures used by farmers include, isolation and quarantine of new birds (WM=3.90), disinfecting vehicles and all equipment before entry into the farm (WM=3.83) and avoiding contaminated feed and stagnant water (WM=3.87). The regression analysis revealed that the factors influencing bio-security measures adopted by the poultry farmers include Age, Farming experience, educational level, cooperative membership and system of poultry farming with an 𝑅2 of 0.3140. The result shows that farmers carry out bio-security measure but have limited knowledge and resources for effective operation. The government, NGOs, and extension agent/workers should educate farmers on the importance and use of bio-security measures and effort should be made to bring down the cost of disinfectants for optimum production.