AWARENESS, KNOWLEDGE AND UTILIZATION OF IMPROVED PIG PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGIES AMONG FARMERS IN ABIA STATE, NIGERIA

This study evaluated awareness, knowledge and utilization of improved pig production technologies amongfarmers in Abia State, Nigeria. A multistage random sampling procedure was used to select57 pig farmers for thestudy. Structured questionnaire and interview schedule were used to collect data which were analysed usingfrequency counts, percentages, mean scores and Pearson's Product Moment Correlation analysis (PPMC). Theresult of the study revealed that most of the respondents were males (73.7%), with average age of 36 years, 93.0%were formally educated and 71.9% married. They had an average household size of 9persons, 7years of farmingexperience and 54.4% had access to credit. The result further revealed that among the most importanttechnologies farmers were aware of include; vaccination and deworming (100% each) and control of ectoparasites(91.2%).The respondents were very knowledgeable about deworming (3.74), vaccination (3.51) andcontrol of ecto-parasites (3.07). The grand mean of 2.66 indicate that the farmers were knowledgeable about theimproved pig production technologies in the study area. The result also showed that deworming (3.35) andcontrol of ecto-parasites (3.23) were the most utilized technologies and improved housing system (3.09). Thecorrelation coefficient of 0.483 indicates positive and significant relationship between level of knowledge andutilization of the technologies. The results therefore call for policies aimed at training and re-training of farmersto increase farmers' knowledge and skills for increased and sustained utilization of these technologies in the studyarea