Perception of poultry farmers on duck farming in Kwara State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study assessed the perception of poultry farmers on duck farming in Kwara state, Nigeria. A random sampling technique was employed in selecting 80 poultry farmers used in the study. Analytical tools used include frequency counts, charts, mean, percentage and Pearson Product moment correlation. Results showed that the mean age of the respondents was 41.3 years with majority of the respondents (71.3%) were male while 28.8% were females. About 70% were married. Findings further showed that about 42% of the respondents were aware of duck farming, 23.9% of the respondents were aware of duck farming through Radio/TV. Furthermore, some of the perceived benefits of duck farming by poultry farmers were ducks have less mortality (?̅=2.69), duck meat is tastier than broiler (?̅ = 2.6) and ducks are less expensive (?̅ = 2.53). The major constraints to duck farming in study area were lack of information and awareness about duck farming (1.794±0.503) and religious factors (1.575±0.521). Results of correlation analysis revealed that none of the socio economic characteristics tested were significant with the perceived knowledge of the respondents on the advantages of duck farming (p<0.05). It was concluded that the perception of poultry farmers to duck farming in study area was positive but were constrained by lack of information and awareness about duck farming (1.794±0.503) and religious factors (1.575±0.521). This is therefore a challenge for extension service delivery and as such poultry farmers and the general public, considering the nutritional, economic and other benefits of ducks, be given adequate innovative information on duck rearing.

Keywords: Perception, Poultry, farmers, Duck farming, Kwara State