Assessment of Training Needs Among Dairy Cattle Farmers in Oyo State, Nigeria

The training needs of dairy cattle farmers in Oyo state, Nigeria were assessed. A well-structured interview schedule was used to obtain information from 123 respondents. Data were collected on socio-economic characteristics of the respondents, their dairy cattle production enterprises and their training needs which were ascertained in six major areas of cattle production: feeding, breeding, healthcare, housing and management, marketing and finance, product preparation and processing. Data were subjected to descriptive statistics and regression analysis using SPPS (V.21). Results revealed that most (30.1%) of the respondents were 24 – 29 years old, married, were male, had no formal education. Results also revealed that more than 90% of dairy cattle farmers perceived the training needs in feeding as most important. The training index in dairy farming indicated that majority (91.8%) of the farmers needed to be trained more on dairy cattle production and management. Based on the result of this study, it was concluded that breeding, feeding and health care were perceived as the “most needed” training by the respondents. Although, training need in marketing and finance, milk preparation and processing, as well as housing and management were also perceived as important. Furthermore age, sex, marital status, religion, education level, source of flock, purpose of production and breeds of cattle had a direct effect on training needs of the respondent while occupation, household, herd size, had an indirect effect on training need of the respondents.