Characteristic traits guiding rural farmers’ selection of small ruminant for sustainable production in Ogun State, Nigeria

Abstract

Quality breeds of animals are crucial to attainment of increased and sustainable livestock production. Years of sheep and goats rearing by small ruminant farmers in Ogun State Nigeria, suggests that they must have prized certain productive criteria for selection of the animals to be stocked for production. In view of this, this study assessed the commonly used criteria for selection of sheep and goat in the study area. Result of binomial analysis of data showed that criteria such as sexual libido, pregnancy rate, robust outlook, well-shaped udder, freeness of pest and diseases infestations, and prolificacy of the animals constitute the major criteria for selection of small ruminant by the farmers. Impact of these criteria on production status of the farmers include sustenance of animal production/stocking and healthy animal population, and enhanced marketing/income generation. Loglinear correlation of the data showed significant association between the production status of the farmers and health condition of the selected animals. The study concluded that the used criteria were valuable for guiding the selection of quality animals and attainment of sustainable production; with the recommendation that the farmers need to be educated and guided on the use of genetic factors as part of the selection criteria.