Assessment of level knowledge among broiler poultry farmers regarding scientific broiler poultry farming practices in Ajmer district of Rajasthan

Introduction

India is emerging as one of the fastest growing economies in the world and agriculture is mainstay for livelihood in Indian economy despite rapid advance in service and industry sector. The contribution of agriculture and allied sector to our Nation's GDP in the year 2020-21 was 19.9% with an annual growth of 3.4% and the high growth has placed India at 3 rd position in egg production after China and USA (Economic Survey, 2020-21) and 6 th position in chicken meat after USA, China, Brazil, Mexico and Russian Federation (FAO, 2020) [5] . Poultry industry contributes about 0.7% of the national GDP and approximately 10% of the livestock GDP and provides employment to over five million people in the country (Jhirwal et al., 2018) [6] . According to 20 th Livestock census-All India Report (2019) [2] , there are 851.81 million poultry birds in India while Rajasthan has 1.4 million poultry birds. Rajasthan ranks 14 th in egg production and contributes 10 per cent of meat production in India. There is total 20,000 poultry rearers in the state of Rajasthan. The production of eggs has increased from 710 million in 2005-06 to 1,363 million in 2016-17 and meat production was estimated at 68 thousand tonnes in 2005-06 and it has increased up to 180 thousand tonnes in 2016-17 in Rajasthan. Ajmer district ranks first in both egg and broiler poultry production in the state. There is total 27 lakh poultry birds in Ajmer district (20 th Livestock Census, Rajasthan (2019) [1] . In India, 72.22% of people live in rural areas. Poultry is raised by almost 89% of rural livestock owners as a significant additional source of income. The majority of commercial farms in India are located in urban and semiurban areas. Since rural and tribal communities have limited access to the majority of the eggs and meat produced, the villages must be self-sufficient in their poultry production in order to meet their demands (Khandait et al., 2011) [7] . In this regard, broiler industry might be a promising industry to alleviate the unemployment problem as well as to take the challenge of 21st century and meet the scarcity of animal protein within shortest possible time in India. Assessment of knowledge level helps to determine the priority of changes in skill, attitude and behaviour and helps in identified the training needs that will provide the greatest impact on achieving organizational or individual goals.

Materials and Methods

The study was conducted purposively in Ajmer district of Rajasthan as it occupies 1 st rank in poultry population in the state and large number of the farmers in this district are doing poultry farming as primary occupation. Also, the establishment of different integrating firms which have well developed network of contract farming system in broiler poultry farming. Ajmer district has 9 tehsils, out these tehsils, four tehsils i.e. Ajmer, Beawar, Nasirabad and Peesangan were selected purposively for the study as these tehsils have high density of broiler poultry farming. An exhaustive list of broiler poultry farmers having at least 500 www.extensionjournal.com commercial broiler birds per batch for more than two years was prepared with the help of State Poultry Training Institute, Ajmer (Rajasthan), Veterinary Officers, integrating firms, commercial poultry feed agencies, village level functionaries etc. From the prepared list of each selected tehsil, 30 broiler poultry farmers were selected randomly. Thus, a total of 120 respondents were selected and interviewed for assessment of their level of knowledge.

Results and Discussion

Results regarding knowledge level of broiler poultry farmers about housing management practices (Table 1) revealed that majority of the respondents had knowledge about the location of farm (94.17%), orientation of farm house (89.17%), indication of optimum moisture level of litter material (81.67%), identification of excessive dustiness of litter material (76.67%), identification of excessive dampness of litter material (75.83%), over stocking of the birds is harmful (73.33%), equipment's used for providing heat to chicks (73.33%), thickness of the bedding material (70.83%), change in floor space during warm weather (70.00%), height of broiler house at sides (67.50%), proper width of poultry house in order to avoid ventilation problem (66.67%), height of the floor from ground level (65.83%), average floor space requirement for broiler birds (65.00%), height of the window/wire mess from the ground (65.00%) and height of broiler house at the centre (60.00%). Data presented in Table 2 regarding Knowledge level of broiler poultry farmers about breed selection and identification of quality chicks indicates that majority of the respondents had knowledge about the meat purpose breeds (94.17%), ideal weight of the day-old chick (89.17%), body confirmation is important tool for judging the quality of chick (73.33%) and signs of quality chick (65.00%). A cursory look of Table 3 i.e. Knowledge level of broiler poultry farmers about brooder management practices reveals that majority of the respondents had knowledge about the indication of crowding of chicks under the heat source (86.67%), care to be taken while watering the birds for first day (86.67%), reason for using corrugated sheet or newspaper on litter material during first week of chick rearing (85.00%), reason for using brooder guards (84.17%), duration of heating of brooder house during winter before releasing of chicks (81.67%), prior heating of brooder before placing chicks is necessary (75.00%), minimum keeping period of brooder guards (64.17%) and indication of staying away of chicks from heat source (62.50%). Whereas, majority of the respondents had no knowledge about duration of lighting/heating of brooders in first week and practices followed to prevent the chicks from consuming litter material. The farm house should be located on a fairly raised and properly drained place (True/ False) 113 94.17 2.

What should be orientation of farm house in tropical climate 107 89.17 3.

What is the average floor space requirement for broiler birds? 78 65.00 4.

The over stocking of the birds is harmful 88 73.33 5.

Floor space needs to be increased /decreased during warm weather 84 70.00 6.

Floor Are you aware with the seasons where is the price of broiler birds become high? 101 84.17

Data presented in Table 7 regarding Knowledge level of broiler poultry farmers about financial practices revealed that majority of the respondents had knowledge about the different sources which provide loan for broiler poultry production (80.00%), cheapest source of finance (75.00%), loan taking is easier from landlord than bank (72.50%) and central government schemes which provides loan for starting poultry farming (70.83%). Whereas, majority of the respondents had no knowledge about schemes of State Department of Animal Husbandry for poultry development. Results regarding Overall Knowledge level of broiler poultry farmers in different areas of broiler poultry farming presented in Table 8 reveals that majority of the respondents (63.33%) had medium level of knowledge regarding housing management practices, whereas 20.00 per cent and 16.67 percent had high and poor levels of expertise, respectively. This finding is in contradiction with that of Paonam and Ram (2015) [9] and Bharti and Sager (2021) [3] who observed that majority of the respondents had high knowledge regarding housing management practices. In breed selection and identification of quality chicks, a large number of the respondents (49.17%) had medium level of knowledge followed by high (27.50%) and low (23.33%). Majority of the respondents (75.83%) had medium level of knowledge regarding brooder management practices, whereas 13.33 per cent and 10.84 per cent had low and high level of knowledge, respectively. In feeding management practices, majority of the respondents (68.33%) had medium level of knowledge followed by low (18.34%) and high (13.33%). These findings are in contradiction with that of Paonam and Ram (2015) [9] who observed that majority of the respondents had high knowledge regarding brooding and feeding practices. Majority of the respondents (73.33%) had medium level of knowledge regarding bio-security and disease control practices, whereas 20.83 per cent and 5.84 per cent had low and high level of knowledge, respectively. In marketing practices, majority of the respondents (66.67%) had medium level of knowledge followed by low (27.50%) and high (5.83%). This finding is in contradiction with that of Olumide-Oyaniyi and Ajayi (2019) [8] who reported that youth farmers had low mean knowledge level in marketing of birds. Majority of the respondents (55.84%) had medium level of knowledge regarding financial practices, whereas 33.33 per and 10.83 per cent had low and high level of knowledge, respectively. Results regarding Overall knowledge level of broiler poultry farmers presented in Table 9 revealed that majority of the www.extensionjournal.com broiler poultry farmers (63.33%) had medium level of overall knowledge about scientific broiler farming practices, followed by 20.00 per cent and 16.67 per cent with high and low level of knowledge, respectively. The above finding is in consonance with the findings of Paonam and Ram (2015) [9] , Rathod et al. (2017) [10] , Jhirwal et al. (2018) [6] and Slathia et al. (2013) [11] .

Conclusion

The plausible conclusion of the study is that the majority of the broiler poultry farmers (63.33%) had medium level of overall knowledge about scientific broiler farming practices, followed by high (20.00%) and low (16.67%) knowledge. Majority of the broiler poultry farmers had medium level of knowledge about housing management practices (63.33%), breed selection and identification of quality chicks (49.17%), brooder management practices (75.83%), feeding management practices (68.33%), bio-security and disease control practices (73.33%), marketing practices (66.67%) and finance practices (55.84%). It is recommended that we should provide them knowledge by imparting training to enhance their knowledge, skill and attitude towards various aspect of scientific broiler farming to make broiler farming more profitable and viable one.

References

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