Abstract
The study investigated the extent of organic farming practices in poultry production in Enugu State, Nigeria. Three specific purposes and three research questions guided the study. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population for the study was 451, made of 330 registered poultry farmers, 95 poultry feed producers and 26 Extension Agents in Enugu state. Random sampling technique was used to select four local government areas in Enugu state. The entire registered poultry farmers and poultry feed producers in the selected Local Government Areas were used in the study. A structured questionnaire was used to solicit data from the respondents. The questionnaire was face validated by three experts from University of Nigeria Nsukka, one from the Department of Agricultural Extension, one from the Department of Animal Science and the other one from the Department of Agricultural Education. Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient of 0.97 was obtained for the instrument. Data collected was analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions. Poultry farmers practiced the use of antibiotics to treat bacterial diseases in broilers, coccidiostats to treat coccidiosis in broilers, feeding broilers with adequately balanced diet, provision of adequate ventilation in the broiler house, regular removal of wet litter to avoid diseases, giving commercial broiler feeds to birds and regular cleaning of the drinkers and feeders at a high extent. Feeding of broilers with purely organic feeds and disinfection of the broiler with organic disinfectant were carried out at a very low extent. Conclusively, the practice of organic farming in poultry production should be done with organic materials. The study therefore recommended among others that policy makers in agriculture should formulate policy that will promote the practice of organic farming in poultry production.
Keywords: Organic, Organic Farming, Challenges, Poultry Production
Publication Date: 2024-07-03