Abstract

The study was conducted to determine the sources and utilization of poultry production information among poultry farmers in Oyo state. A multi-stage random sampling procedure was used to select 120 poultry farmers who were interviewed for the study. Findings revealed that majority of the poultry farmers were male within the age bracket 31 to 50 years and were literate. The farmers did not belong to any poultry association and 57% of them operated on a large scale poultry production. Sources of information on poultry keeping recommended practices identified and available to the farmers were veterinary officers, television, poultry association, agricultural extension officers, workshops/seminars, journals and friends/family. Majority became aware of recommended practices on poultry keeping through veterinary officers. Fifty percent always had access to poultry information. Radio was the top among the sources of awareness on poultry production practices. Radio was also ranked the first as preferred source of poultry information. However, family/friends were the most accessible source of information to poultry farmers. Also, 88.7% of radio users as information source, made use of information obtained. Inadequate capital was considered a severe problem to the poultry farmers while the level of use of information among poultry farmers was very high with 39.8%. There was a significant relationship between age, educational qualification, scale of operation and source of information.

Key words: Sources of information, utilization of information, poultry farmers.