FACTORS AFFECTING CHOICE OF MOST-PREFERRED LIVESTOCK DRUG USAGE AMONG FARMERS IN RURAL SOUTHWEST NIGERIA

Abstract

Animal health is paramount and assists in realizing a high rate of Returns on Investment (ROI) by farmers either in cash or kind or both. The survey was conducted using a total of 142 livestock farmers comprising users of traditional (28), orthodox (74) and both (40) using copies of well-structured questionnaire as instrument of data collection. Socio-economic characteristics and the factors influencing selection of most-preferred drug used by farmers were the specific objectives stated and analyzed with Descriptive Statistics (DS) and Multinomial Logistic Regression (MLR). The average age, household size, monthly income, and farming experience were 44.2 years, 5 members, N305, 149.05k and 10.3years respectively. Orthodox medicine was found to be most preferred by the livestock farmer which was significantly influenced by extension contacts, household size, age, association membership, age and distance to veterinary hospital. It is recommended, among others, that more extension contacts and trainings should be made available to livestock farmers.