Feed Management in Pig Production and an Attempt for Improvement: A Case Study of Babadjou Locality in the Western Region of Cameroon

Abstract

A survey was conducted to evaluate feed management in pig production and an attempt for improvement in the locality of Babadjou, western region of Cameroon. The study used well structured questionnaires to address the socio-demographic profile of respondents, the production characteristics, feeding methods, and farm management in relation to feed quality from 120  households. Descriptive statistics were used for all the variables studied in SPSS v.11. Results show that there was significant association between feed quality and all socio-demographic parameters of the respondents at P<0.001 except for the spoken language (P<0.01). Likewise there was significant association between feed quality and all production characteristics at P<0.001 except for the production systems (P=0.193). Many respondents didn’t undergo any quality training before embarking on pig farming (95.83%) even though some of them had at least 10 years of rearing experience (39.16%). In like manner, there was significant association between all the feeding parameters and feed quality at P<0.001 except for the measuring utensils (P=0.193) feeding frequency of harvest residues (P=0.238) Use of harvest residues as sole feed (P=0.026) and water source (P=0.003). Majority of farmers used any complete feed types available (96.66%) rather than the specific animal feed based on growth stage. They suffered the high cost of complete feed (73.33%) and resolved to top up pigs daily ration with kitchen residues (76.66%) and harvest farm residues (60%). The farmers used well water preferentially (85.83%). Very few farmers understood the benefits of flushing practices (17.5%) and therefore could not achieve large litters at farrowing (82.5%). In the same vein, there was significant association between all the farm management parameters and feed quality at P<0.001 except for common initiative group (CIG) member (P=0.018), and reasons for no farm extension (P=0.002). In conclusion, pigs farmers in Babadjou locality need regular workshops for training in pig husbandry and to come together as CIGs so as to benefit from government subsidies and Non Governmental Organisations assistance for better production and productivity.