ANALYSIS OF THE DETERMINANTS OF PROFIT FROM COCOA BEANS MARKETING IN OGUN STATE, NIGERIA

This paper examined the factors that influenced profit from cocoa beans marketing in Ogun State, Nigeria. Fifty (50) cocoa beans marketers were selected using a multi-stage sampling technique. Data were collected with the aid of a structured questionnaire designed to solicit information on the socio-economic characteristics of the cocoa beans marketers, their operating costs and return and problems associated with cocoa beans marketing in the study area. Descriptive statistics, marketing margin analysis, gross margin analysis and the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression technique were em-ployed in the analysis of the study data. The study revealed that men (84%) are more involved in co-coa beans marketing than women. Further, the study finds cocoa beans marketing to be a profitable venture in the study area having a gross margin of ₦137,719.27 (US $885.51) per month and a mar-keting margin of N40,600 (US$ 261.94). The percentage marketing margin was 34.73% which implies that the cocoa beans marketers realize a margin of 34.76% of the farm price. The result of the OLS regression analysis revealed that cost of transportation, communication cost, volume of cocoa traded and membership of market union are the significant determinants of the profit margin that accrue to the cocoa beans marketer. The identified constraints to cocoa beans marketing in the study area in-clude low quality of cocoa beans, poor transportation facilities and inadequate capital. The study con-cluded that cocoa beans marketing is economically rewarding in the study area. It recommends that the government should help to provide good transportation facilities. Also, agricultural and commercial banks as well as other micro credit financial institutions should assist in providing credit facility to the marketers as this will enable them expand their scope of marketing and consequently improve their profit margin

INDIGENOUS POULTRY PRODUCTION IN OGUN STATE, NIGERIA: A CASE OF YEWA NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA

A study was conducted to determine the types and spatial distribution of Indigenous Poultry (IP) in Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State. Five locations (Idofoi, Ibese, Imasai, Eggua and Ayetoro) were randomly selected across the geographical distribution of the Local Government Area. Data were collected from 75 respondents comprised of 15 each from the locations using a well structured questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics. The result revealed that women were more involved (57.3%) in indigenous poultry production in the area. Fowl (chicken) population dominated (57.3%) and was widely distributed followed by duck (24.5%) and guinea fowl (8.60%) while turkey recorded the least population (2.4%). Eggua recorded the highest (27.3%) chicken population whereas Ayetoro had the least (15%). However, Imasai had the overall highest (22.90%) indigenous poultry in the study area while the least was recorded in Ibese (16.2%). Major challenges militating against IP in the area were disease (33.3%), pilfering (14.6%), and socio-taboo (8.0%). Only 2.7% respondents indicated feeding as a problem militating against IP. The study concluded that female and the aged were major indigenous poultry farmers in Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State and the prevailing indigenous poultry were chickens, ducks and guinea fowls with turkey having the least population. Imasai had the highest poultry population followed by Eggua while Ibese had the least population. Majority of the people in Yewa North Local Government Area reared indigenous poultry for income and domestic use.Â

Differential effects of natural palm oil, chemically- and enzymatically-modified palm oil on weight gain, blood lipid metabolites and fat deposition in a pediatric pig model

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Increasing prevalence of obesity and overweight in the Western world, continue to be a major health threat and is responsible for increased health care costs. Dietary intervention studies show a strong positive association between saturated fat intake and the development of obesity and cardiovascular disease. This study investigated the effect of positional distribution of palmitic acid (Sn-1, 2 & 3) of palm oil on cardiovascular health and development of obesity, using weaner pigs as a model for young children.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Male and female weaner piglets were randomly allocated to 4 dietary treatment groups: 1) pork lard (LRD); 2) natural palm olein (NPO); 3) chemically inter-esterified PO (CPO) and 4) enzymatically inter-esterified PO (EnPO) as the fat source. Diets were formulated with 11% lard or with palm olein in order to provide 31% of digestible energy from fat in the diet and were balanced for cholesterol, protein and energy across treatments.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>From 8 weeks onwards, pigs on EnPO diet gained (P < 0.05) more weight than all other groups. Feed conversion efficiency (feed to gain) over the 12 week experimental period did not vary between treatment groups. Plasma LDL-C content and LDL-C/HDL-C ratio in pigs fed natural PO tended to be lower compared to all other diets. The natural PO lowered (P < 0.02) the plasma triglyceride (TG) content relative to the lard or EnPO diets, but was not different from the CPO diet. The natural PO diet was associated with lower (P < 0.05) saturated fat levels in subcutaneous adipose tissue than the CPO and EnPO diets that had lower saturated fat levels than the lard diet. Female pigs had lower lean and higher fat and fat:lean ratio in the body compared with male pigs. No difference in weight gain or blood lipid parameters was observed between sexes.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The observations on plasma TG, muscle and adipose tissue saturated fatty acid contents and back fat (subcutaneous) thickness suggest that natural palm oil may reduce deposition of body fat. In addition, dietary supplementation with natural palm oil containing palmitic acid at different positions in meat producing animals may lead to the production of meat and meat products with lower saturated fats. An increase in fat content and a decrease in lean content in female pigs resulted in an increased body fat:lean ratio but gender had no effect on blood lipid parameters or insulin concentrations.</p

Effect of graded levels of pineapple (Ananas comosus L. Meer) crush waste on the performance, carcass yield and blood parameters of broiler chicken

A 56 - day feeding trial was conducted to evaluate pineapple crush waste (PCW) as dietary fibre source in broiler diets. Five straight diets were formulated to contain the PCWat dietary levels of 0%, 2.5%, 5.0%, 7.5% and 10.0% as replacement for wheat offal. One hundred and fifty (150), day-old "Anak 2000" broiler chicks were randomly allotted to the 5 diets containing three replicates per treatment with 10 chicks per replicate in a completely randomized design (CRD). The final body weight, daily weight, daily feed intake and daily protein intake were generally higher in the birds fed diet 2 (2.5% PCW). There were significant (P&lt;0.05) differences in daily feed intake and daily protein intake between the group on diet l and the other groups, while daily weight gain, feed conversion ratio and protein efficiency ratio were statistically the same (P &gt;0.05) across the treatments. Digestible crude fibre values significantly (P &lt; 0.05) decreased with increasing levels of PCW in the diets while the other digestibility percentages were comparable (P &gt;0.05) in all dietary treatments. Values for the hematological parameters and blood serum chemistry did not deviate (P &gt;0.05) statistically from established normal values for chicken. However, liver weights significantly increased (P &lt; 0.05) across the dietary treatments while other organs observed did not differ significantly (P &gt;0.05) in weight across the treatments. Cost per kg feed decreased as the level of PCW inclusion in the diets increased while the cost per kg weight gain showed that birds sed on diet 4 (7.5% PCW) were the most economical to produce. The results suggest that PCW could replace wheat offal in broiler diet up to 10.0% as a dietary fibre source without any deleterious effect. </jats:p

ANALYSIS OF THE DETERMINANTS OF PROFIT FROM COCOA BEANS MARKETING IN OGUN STATE, NIGERIA

This paper examined the factors that influenced profit from cocoa beans marketing in Ogun State, Nigeria. Fifty (50) cocoa beans marketers were selected using a multi-stage sampling technique. Data were collected with the aid of a structured questionnaire designed to solicit information on the socio-economic characteristics of the cocoa beans marketers, their operating costs and return and problems associated with cocoa beans marketing in the study area. Descriptive statistics, marketing margin analysis, gross margin analysis and the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression technique were em-ployed in the analysis of the study data. The study revealed that men (84%) are more involved in co-coa beans marketing than women. Further, the study finds cocoa beans marketing to be a profitable venture in the study area having a gross margin of ₦137,719.27 (US $885.51) per month and a mar-keting margin of N40,600 (US$ 261.94). The percentage marketing margin was 34.73% which implies that the cocoa beans marketers realize a margin of 34.76% of the farm price. The result of the OLS regression analysis revealed that cost of transportation, communication cost, volume of cocoa traded and membership of market union are the significant determinants of the profit margin that accrue to the cocoa beans marketer. The identified constraints to cocoa beans marketing in the study area in-clude low quality of cocoa beans, poor transportation facilities and inadequate capital. The study con-cluded that cocoa beans marketing is economically rewarding in the study area. It recommends that the government should help to provide good transportation facilities. Also, agricultural and commercial banks as well as other micro credit financial institutions should assist in providing credit facility to the marketers as this will enable them expand their scope of marketing and consequently improve their profit margin.</jats:p

Performance and External Egg Quality of Layers under Varying Stocking Density in Locally Fabricated Metal-Type Battery Cage System

Study determined the performance and external egg quality of layers in locally fabricated metal-type battery cage at different stocking density. One hundred and forty four point of lay harco black strain birds were randomly divided into 3 treatments stocked 2, 3 and 4birds per cell. The result showed insignificant (P&gt;0.05) difference with final weight of the birds but body weight gain and feed intake varied significantly (P&lt;0.05). Birds stocked at 2/cell gained 15g/birds in weight while birds stocked 3 and 4 per cell lost 75g/bird and 125g/bird, respectively. Birds stocked at 2 and 4/cell recorded similar (P&gt;0.05) feed intake, 114.00 and 112.50g/bird/day, respectively while those stocked at 3/cell recorded significantly (P&lt;0.05) low feed intake (103.89g/bird/day). o significant (P&gt;0.05) variation was obtained with egg length, egg breadth and egg weight across treatments. However, birds stocked 2/cell had highest significant (P&lt;0.05) ESI and HDP (0.77 and 76.60%, respectively) while birds stocked 4/cell had least ESI (0.74) and HDP (68.15%). Hen house production decreased significantly (P&lt;0.05) with increasing stocking density from 76.60% to 68.15% in the cage type. The study concluded that stocking density of layers in locally fabricated metal-type battery cage had significant effect on weight gain, feed intake, and hen house production of layers and layers stocked 3/cell gave the optimum ESI and HDP.Keywords: Metal-type battery cage, stocking density, growth performance, egg qualit

Effect of feeding frequency on the growth and reproductive performance of two rabbit breeds

Twenty-eight rabbits from two breeds; New Zealand Red (NZR) and Florida White (FW) (twelve does and two bucks per breed) were used to examine the effect of feeding frequency on the reproductive performance of two rabbit breeds. Each of the two rabbit breeds were divided into two groups (A and B) on the basis of feeding frequency of once (7a.m only) or twice daily (7a.m and 4p.m). The experiment lasted for 30weeks (10 weeks in each parity). Data obtained were subjected to Analysis of Variance in a 2x2 experimental layout. The litter size of rabbits fed once was 4.33 while those fed twice daily had 2.67 litter size. Rabbits fed twice daily had higher (p&lt;0.05) weaning weight and weaning weight gain than rabbits fed once daily in both breeds. In the third parity, the breeds differed significantly (p&lt;0.05) only in the final weight with FW having a higher value of 2267.50g/rabbit/day than NZR. Significantly (p&lt;0.05) higher mortality was obtained in rabbits fed once daily than those fed twice daily at the second and third parities in both breeds. The results showed that feeding frequency affected the weaning weight, weaning weight gain and mortality of the does from the second parity.Keywords: Rabbit; Breed; Feeding frequency; Parit