Knowledge and constraints in the adoption of bio-security measures among smallholder poultry farmers in Namakkal District of Tamil Nadu

Introduction

Poultry farming is one of the fastest-growing sectors of Indian agriculture, contributing substantially to food and nutritional security, rural employment and livelihood generation through the production of eggs and meat. Backyard poultry farming is typically characterized by small flock sizes and limited implementation of bio-security measures. In many developing countries, backyard poultry accounts for nearly 80 per cent of the total poultry population (Sonaiya F 2007; Pym et al., 2006) [1,2] . Animal protein deficiency affects rural health and poultry products provide an affordable source of quality protein that improves nutrition, food security, women's empowerment and poverty reduction (Dinesh et al., 2024) [3] . The rapid expansion and intensification of poultry production have increased the risk of infectious disease outbreaks, resulting in considerable economic losses and public health concerns. Several poultry diseases, including salmonellosis, avian influenza and Newcastle disease, adversely affect poultry production and some possess zoonotic potential, threatening both animal and human health (WOAH, 2018; DADH, 2023-24) [4,5] . In addition, the indiscriminate use of antibiotics in poultry production has contributed to the emergence of antimicrobial resistance, which is recognized as one of the major global public health challenges (Sen et al., 2022) [6] . Although India's poultry sector has experienced significant growth over the past four decades, this expansion has largely been driven by commercial production. In contrast, backyard poultry farming remains a household-based activity managed primarily by rural women and is increasingly recognized for its potential to improve rural livelihoods, reduce poverty and meet local demand for eggs and poultry meat (Dinesh et al., 2024) [3] . Smallholder poultry production contributes significantly to developing economies by supporting household food security, generating income and improving the livelihoods of small farmers, thereby helping reduce poverty (Sambo et al., 2015) [7] . According to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH, 2018) [4] , bio-security comprises a set of management and physical measures designed to minimize the risk of introduction, establishment and spread of animal diseases within and between animal populations. Effective bio-security practices include proper sanitation, cleaning and disinfection, isolation of sick birds, regulated movement of people and vehicles, appropriate disposal of carcasses and farm waste and control of wild birds and rodents (Dewulf and Immerseel, 2019) [8] . The successful implementation of these measures largely depends on farmers' knowledge and understanding of recommended bio-security practices. Knowledge is considered the foundation for behavioural change and informed decision-making in agricultural production systems. Farmers with adequate knowledge are more likely to recognize disease risks, appreciate the benefits of preventive measures and make appropriate management decisions (Rogers, 2003) [9] . Understanding farmers' perceptions of disease prevention is essential, as it provides insight into their willingness to adopt recommended bio-security practices and modify their farm www.extensionjournal.com management practices accordingly (Richens et al., 2018) [10] . However, several studies have reported inadequate awareness and knowledge of recommended bio-security measures among smallholder poultry farmers, particularly in developing countries, limiting effective disease prevention (Fasina et al., 2012; Laconi and Subasinghe, 2023) [11,12] . Identifying existing knowledge gaps is therefore essential for designing need-based extension programmes, training interventions and policy initiatives to strengthen farm biosecurity. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to evaluate their knowledge level on bio-security measures and constraints perceived in adoption of bio-security measures with the following objectives.

• To study the level of knowledge on bio-security measures among the smallholder poultry farmers • To examine the constraints perceived by the smallholder poultry farmers in adoption of bio-security measures

Methodology

Namakkal district was purposively selected, as the district had highest poultry population among other districts of Tamil Nadu (20 th Livestock Census, 2019) [13] . From this Devarayapuram village of Erumapatty block and Vaiyappamalai village of Mallasamudram block were selected through random sampling. Respondents were selected from among marginal or landless farmers rearing 50-180 birds and depending primarily on family labour for the managemental work. Thus, totally 40 smallholder poultry farmers were selected as the respondents for the study. The study adopted ex-post facto research design. The structured pretested interview schedule was prepared; the primary data were collected through direct personal interview method. Knowledge level measured using dichotomous response namely, "correct" and "incorrect".

Positive response (correct) was assigned a score of one, while negative response (incorrect) was assigned a score of zero. The knowledge level was calculated based on the total cumulative score for each bio-security measure and they were categorized from no knowledge to Very high knowledge following the method adopted by Tamizhkumaran (2016) [14] , as detailed below. The constraints were studied under four components and the five point continuum most relevant to least relevant scoring procedure was adopted. Interpreted based on mean score value. The suitable descriptive and inferential statistics were adopted for the selected variables.

Results and Discussion

This section presents a comprehensive analysis and interpretation of the smallholder poultry farmers' level of knowledge and constraints in adoption of bio-security measures, thereby providing insights into barriers affecting effective bio-security management.

Knowledge of bio-security measures among smallholder poultry farmers

The frequency, percentage distribution, mean scores and standard deviations of respondents' knowledge regarding individual bio-security measures in poultry farming are presented in Table 1.

It was observed from Table 1 that all the respondents (100.00%) possessed knowledge about the importance of proper disposal of dead birds in the farm and prevention of entry of wild animals and birds into the farm, indicating complete awareness of these bio-security practices. This might be attributed to their direct relevance to disease prevention and their frequent emphasis by veterinarians, extension personnel and fellow poultry farmers. A high level of knowledge was also observed regarding the identification of healthy and sick birds (87.50%). This might be due to the fact that farmers recognize the importance of early disease detection for minimizing economic losses. The findings were not in accordance with the results of (Munazir et al., 2024) [15] indicated that poultry farmers exhibited greater awareness of vaccination-related practices, while awareness of several critical bio-security measures, such as disinfection and preventive health management practices, remained relatively limited.

Relatively low levels of knowledge were recorded regarding vaccination of birds (27.50%), deworming practices (25.00%), quarantine period for newly purchased birds (25.00%) and the importance of sunlight for layers (25.00%). These practices require more technical knowledge and are often overlooked by small-scale and backyard poultry farmers. The existing knowledge and adoption gaps identified in the present study highlight the importance of capacity-building programmes, which is supported by the findings of (Alagesan et al., 2025) [16] , who reported significant improvements in bio-security adoption following targeted training interventions. These findings indicate that while the respondents possessed adequate knowledge about general farm hygiene and disease prevention practices, their awareness of specific disease control and preventive health management measures was comparatively limited. This is also supported by the results of (Dorea et al., 2010) [17] , who highlighted that growers' compliance with bio-security practices depends on their level of awareness regarding the role of bio-security in disease control. www.extensionjournal.com

Constraints perceived by the smallholder poultry farmers

The constraints perceived by the smallholder poultry farmers were studied under four categories as sociopsychological constraints, socio-economic constraints, managemental constraints and institutional constraints and presented in Table 2.

Regarding socio-psychological constraints, resistance to changing traditional farming practices was perceived as the most important constraint by the poultry farmers, with a mean score of 3.85. Among the socio-economic constraints, limited financial resources for investing in bio-security infrastructure and inadequate public policies related to biosecurity were identified as the most critical constraints, each recording a mean score of 3.80. With respect to management-related constraints, difficulty in adhering to the recommended deworming schedule and lack of adequate knowledge regarding bio-security measures emerged as the major constraints, both with a mean score of 3.82. Among the institutional constraints, the weak extension system was perceived as the most severe constraint, registering the highest mean score of 4.10. These results were also in agreement with the results of (Jibrin et al., 2021) [18] who reported that lack of government policies, high cost of disinfectants were perceived as major constraints by the famers.

Considering the overall dimensions of constraints affecting the adoption of bio-security measures, institutional constraints were perceived as the most important barrier, with a mean score of 3.83, followed by socio-economic constraints (3.74), management-related constraints (3.70) and socio-psychological constraints (3.69). The overall constraint (3.74) felt by the farmers in the adoption of bio-security measures were relevant to more relevant constraint. This might be attributed to the predominance of older farmers with low to medium income levels, limited information-seeking behaviour, inadequate awareness and knowledge of bio-security measures, and dependence on farming as their primary livelihood. The low adoption of several bio-security practices might be attributable to inadequate access to technical information, as information access has been identified as a major determinant of bio-security adoption by (Otieno et al., 2023) [19] . This is also supported by (Dorea et al., 2010) [17] who suggested that regular monitoring, extension support and increased awareness are essential for improving compliance with recommended bio-security practices among poultry farmers.

Conclusion

The study revealed that poultry farmers possessed a moderate level of knowledge on bio-security measures, with considerable variation across different practices. The socioeconomic and managemental constraints hindered effective implementation of bio-security measures. Also, the majority of the farmers had not attended any training programmes. It could be observed from this study that knowledge gap exists in bio-security measures among smallholder poultry farmers. Also, constraints should be minimized to implement the bio-security measures. Therefore, targeted training programmes, regular veterinary extension services, institutional support mechanisms, accessible to resources and awareness campaigns are essential to improve farmers' understanding and knowledge of critical bio-security practices for sustainable poultry production and disease control at the smallholder farmers' level.

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