Piggery Farmers’ Awareness of the Implications of the Use of Aflatoxins Contamination of Feedstuffs in the Humid Tropics

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction

Material and Methods

Location and duration of the study

Population of the study

Experimental Procedure/Sampling

Data Collection

Statistical Analysis

Results and Discussion

Discussion of the Questionaires Responses of Piggery Farmers

Conclusion and Recommendations

References

Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate piggery farmers’awareness of aflatoxins contamination of feedstuffs and its implications in pig production in Nsukka zone. A survey research was conducted using a structured questionnaire which was validated by an agricultural measurement and evaluation experts. The questionnaire was used to collect data from the piggery farmers. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics option of Genstat computer package (Discovery edition 3). The result of this study revealed that piggery farmers are aware of aflatoxins infestation, butknow little about its economic and health implications on pig production and pork consumers. They also indicated that they are adopting various local and technical methods such as avoiding damp environment, sprinkling ashes and saw-dusts on top of the feedstuffs, in order to reduce the incidence of aflatoxins development in the feedstuffs they use to feed their pig stocks. They stated that they were not aware that feeding pigs with aflatoxins contaminated food reminants and feeds poses a serious health risk to both the pigs and pork consumers, as they are interested in minimizing the cost of production rather than the welfare of the pigs and pork consumers. Pigs fed with aflatoxin contaminated feedstuffs, have stunted growth, poor feed intake and liver damage, when consumed by humans cause diseasessuch as liver cancer, kidney and nervous disorders, cirrhosis and mutagenswhich have been proven by researchers. Hence the need to ascertain the extent of piggery farmers’ awareness of toxins, which will serve as an indicator on the level of risks exposure of both pigs and pork consumers in the zone. It was therefore recommended that more awareness should be created to both the crop and livestock farmers on the economic and health implications of aflatoxins in the food chain. Farmers should be strongly encouraged to adopt a good preventive and control strategies both in the field, storage and handling of feeds and feed ingredients in order to avert a possible outbreak of aflatoxicosis if uncheck-mated.

Keywords:

Aflatoxins, aflatoxin contamination, feedstuffs, pig, piggery farmers, humid tropics

Introduction

Babatunde and Hamzat (2005) these alternative feedstuffs have proved valuable in supporting the performance of livestocks and poultry. According to Ugwu, et al., (2008) the main factors militating against the rapid expansion of animal production industry in Nigeria is the problem of inadequate supplies of feedstuffs at economic prices. The scarcity and high cost of conventional feedstuffs is largely responsible for the present high price of finished animal products such as eggs, meat and milk (Adesehinwa et al., 2011; Rhule,1999). Ijaiya et al., (2004) pointed out that feed cost is perhaps the most expensive input in intensively reared stocks and constitutes about 70 - 80% of the real cost of animal production.Adesehinwa (2008) noted that pigs convert a variety of feeds and agro-industrial by-products into meat for human consumption.Serres (1992) stated that pigs are highly prolific and very efficient in converting feed nutrients into high quality animal protein. Awan (2001) reported the ability of moulds to produce toxins that has deleterious to animals and human health are common and widespread. Odoemelam and Osu, (2008) reported that toxigenic moulds have been found during growth, harvest and storage of diferent foods and feeds and other agricultural produce. Farombi (2006) stated thattoxigenic fungal contaminate a large number of dietary staples and agricultural produce such as rice, corn, cassava, peanuts and spices, while noting that humans and animals are exposed to aflatoxins by consuming contaminated foods and feeds. Abarca et al., (2001) stated that there are five major agriculturally important fungal toxins of economic importance namely; aflatoxins, deoxynivalenol, ochratoxin, zearalenone and fumunism, which are produced by fungi invasion of agricultural produces and feed ingredients under favourable conditions. According to Sashidhare et al., (1992), the high incidence of mycotoxins contamination could be due to physical status of grains, the moisture content, temperature, oxygen and the amount of carbon (iv) oxide in the atmosphere. These factors are reported to influence the rate of infestation and proliferation of mouldsin agricultural produce and grains especially under storage condition.Aflatoxicosis in pigs reduces feed intake, reduce weight gain, reduce growth rate, immunosuppressive including antibody and interleukin production, causes liver damage and hemorrhage (Sun and Chen, 2003; Carvajah et al., 2003; Lu, 2003 ;Creepy, 2002). Porks consumers’are exposed to health risks such as cancer, kidney and nervous disorders, cirrhosis and mutagens (Kuilman et al., 1998). These toxins are wildly implicated in causing health risks to human due to its carcinogenic, mutagenic and teratogenic properties in persons consuming pork products that are high in aflatoxins concentration over time (Sun and Chen, 2003; Kuilman et al., 1998).The purpose of this study was to evaluate the extent of piggery farmers’ awareness of the economic and health risk of feeding aflatoxinscontaminated feeds and feed ingredients in pig production.

Material and Methods

Location and duration of the study

This study was carried out in the six (6) local government areas that make up Nsukka zone namely: Nsukka, Igboeze North, Igboeze South, Igbo-etiti, Udenu and Uzo-uwani LGAs of Enugu State, South Eastern Nigeria. The climate of the study area is typically tropical with relative humidity ranging from 65 – 85 %. The average diurnal minimum temperature ranges from 22oC – 24.7oC while the average maximum temperature ranges from 33oC – 37oC (Energy Centre, UNN, 2008) with annual rainfall ranging from 1680 – 1700mm. The rainy season is between April – October and the dry season is between Novembers – March. This study was carried out in two major piggery farms in each of the six (6) sampled local government areas in Nsukka zone of Enugu State. The study lasted for thirty two weeks from December, 2011 - July, 2012.

Population of the study

The population of the study comprised of all piggery farmers in Nsukka zone of Enugu State. Three major piggery farmers were purposively sampled in each of the six local government areas that make up Nsukka zone in this study, with a total number of eighteen (18) piggery farmers sampled in this study.

Experimental Procedure/Sampling

Three major piggery farmers from each of the six (6) local governments areas in Nsukka zone were administered a structured questionnaire. These questionnaires where administered by the researcher, in cases where a given question(s) is not understood by the piggery farmer, the researcher explained in the native dialect and also fill in the responses if the piggery farmer is unable to write. The administered questionnaire was retrieved immediately by the researcher.A pilot aflatoxins analysis of the pig feedstuff samples was carried out using AOAC (2005) method of thin-layer chromatography (TLC) with some modifications according to Opadukun (1979) method, used by Odoemelam and Osu, (2008) and modified according to Ono et al., (2010). This pre-test is to ascertain the presence of aflatoxins in the mould infested feedstuff samples collected being used by piggeryfarmers in feeding pigs.

Data Collection

The data were collected using a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was validated by two experts in instrument measurement and evaluation from the department of Agricultural Economics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

Statistical Analysis

The collected data from questionnaires were analyzed, using descriptive statistics such as frequency and percentages.Genstat computer package (Discovery edition 3) software was used to analyze the data.

Results and Discussion

The results of the study are presented below; table 1 shows thevarious responses of piggery farmers

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Source: field survey, 2012

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