Assessment of feeding adaptative strategies used by dairy farmers in Edu Local Government Area of Kwara State, Nigeria
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Date
2017
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Publisher
Faculty of Science, Bayero University, Kano
Abstract
This study focused on the assessment of dry season cattle feeding adaptation strategies by dairy
farmers in Edu local government area of Kwara state, Nigeria. Two hundred dairy farmers were
purposively selected for this study in the three agricultural districts (Lafiagi, Shonga and Tsaragi)
of Edu local government areas based on predominance of cattle production, in 2016. Data were
obtained using a structured questionnaire to elicit information on respondents’ socioeconomics
characteristics, health challenges of cattle, the effects of the nutritional challenges and seasonal
pattern of feeding cattle during the dry season. The data were analyzed using frequency,
percentage and mean score. Result shows the farmers’ age number of children and herd size were
40.2 years, 6.0 children and 45 cattle heads, respectively. Majority (70%) had tertiary education
and 50.0% kept White Fulani breed. The study also reveals that daily milk output during the rainy
season (500 litres) were more than the dry season daily output (300 litres from a total of two
hundred animals. Health issues including inflammation of teat and udder (50%), loss of weight
(12.5%), reduction in milk production(25%) and sudden death(12.5%) are examples of secondary
effects of dry season nutritional challenges. The study recommends the promotion of
enlightenment programmes that will adequately expose dairy farmers to improve and adaptable
dry season feeding strategies.
Description
Keywords
Milk production, Dairy farmers, Adaptive feeding, Kwara state