ReseaRch PaPeRs Journal of Agricultural and Marine Sciences 2023, 28(2): 28–37 DOI: 10.53541/jams.vol28iss2pp28-37 Received 3 March 2022 Accepted 16 May 2023 حتليل جنس العاملني يف جمال ممارسات إدارة إنتاج دجاج التسمني يف والية دلتا، نيجرياي ثيوفيلوس مييب غبيغيب وأكورونكو شيناغوروم بريل * Gender Analysis of Practitioners of Broiler Production Management Practices in Delta State, Nigeria Theophilus Miebi Gbigbi and Pearl Chinagorom E-Okoronkwo* Theophilus Miebi Gbigbi( ) gbigbitheophilusmiebi@yahoo.com, Department of Agricultural Economics, Delta State University, Abraka Delta State, Nigeria Introduction Globally, it has been proven that the animal food source most especially the broiler chicken (Gal-lus gallus domesticus) which connotes birds grown for the goal of meat is very essential for nor- mal mental and physical development of man (Beutler, 2007). Broiler chicken are very cost-effective and also widely accepted because of the nutritional and organ- oleptic properties, such as amino acids, fats and oil and vitamins (Ugwu, 1990). The broiler rearing provides a means through which transformation can be achieved in animal protein consumption which is seen in the ex- pansion of smallholder broiler farmers in the country at large. The subsequent endorsement from institutions like World Health Organization (WHO) has set a tre- mendous pace in the development of poultry industry which is the forerunner of other agri-based industries. In Nigeria, poverty has led to the dependence of over 70% of the rural population on poultry for their liveli- hoods and economic survival (United Nations, 2007), Abstract. Despite women’s substantial participation and productive inputs, their role in broiler production has often being underestimated or ignored by the society. This study was conducted to provide information on the gap that ex- isted on the management technologies observed by the male and female disparity. This study examined gender analysis of broiler production management practices, profitability and constraints. A sample size of 104 respondents was used by the multistage sampling procedure. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The major find- ings were, the mean age for the males and females were 45 years and 43 years with majority of the females acquiring higher education than the males. The stock size for the male and female practitioners was 185 birds and 327 birds with mean income of ₦122, 880.86 and ₦172, 221.72. There was insufficient access to extension services and credit by the practitioners. The predominant management practices adopted were vaccinated by male (93.2 %) and female (100.0%); feeding practices male (84.7%) and female (100.0%) whereas, biosecurity and waste recycle were least adopted. Respon- dents’ best reasons for adopting of broiler management practices increased profits of male (96.6%) and female (95.6%). The male and female respondents realized a profit of ₦340, 154.24 and ₦433, 991.01 respectively. The most serious con- straint experienced by both was price fluctuation (male = 86.4% and female =80.0%). The results showed relationship between the farming experience, extension access, insurance and bird age and adoption. We concluded that adopting the identified broiler management practices by the practitioners could improve production and income. This study re- vealed that females performed better than males in the adoption of broiler management technologies. The provision of credit, extension and insurance services and improvement in management practices can address the serious constraints faced by broiler production practitioners. Keywords: Broiler practitioners, production, adoption, gender, management practices امللخــص: علــى الرغــم مــن مشــاركة املــرأة الكبــرية ومدخالهتــا اإلنتاجيــة، فــإن دورهــا يف إنتــاج دجــاج التســمني غالًبــا مــا يتــم التقليــل مــن شــأنه أو جتاهلــه مــن قبــل اجملتمــع. أجريــت هــذه الدراســة لتوفــري معلومــات عــن الفجــوة املوجــودة يف تقنيــات اإلدارة والــي لوحظــت مــن خــالل التبايــن بــني الذكــور واإلانث. يف هــذه الدراســة مت حتليــل جنــس العاملــني يف جمــال ممارســات إدارة إنتــاج دجــاج التســمني وكذلــك الرحبيــة والقيــود. مت اســتخدام حجــم عينــة مــن 104 مســتجيبني مــن خــالل إجــراء أخــذ العينــات متعــدد املراحــل. مت حتليــل البيــاانت ابســتخدام اإلحصــاء الوصفــي واالســتنتاجي. أشــارت النتائــج الرئيســية للدراســة أن متوســط العمــر للذكــور واإلانث 45 ســنة و43 ســنة علــى التــوايل مــع حصــول غالبيــة اإلانث علــى تعليــم أعلــى مــن الذكــور. كان حجــم املخــزون للممارســني مــن الذكــور واإلانث 185 طائــرًا و327 طائــرًا مبتوســط دخــل ₦ 122 و880.86 و ₦ 172 و221.72 علــى التــوايل. مل يكــن هنــاك وصــول كاف إىل خدمــات اإلرشــاد واالئتمــان مــن قبــل املمارســني. وجــدت الدراســة أن املمارســات اإلداريــة الســائدة املتبعــة حتصــني الذكــور )٪93.2( واإلانث )٪100.0(، أمــا ابلنســبة ملمارســات التغذيــة ذكــور )٪84.7( وإانث )٪100.0( يف حــني أن األمــن احليــوي وإعــادة تدويــر النفاايت كانت أقل املمارســات إتباعا. أشــارت الدراســة اىل أن من أفضل أســباب تبين ممارســات إدارة دجاج التســمني من قبل عينة الدراســة هو زايدة أرابح الذكور )٪96.6( واإلانث )٪95.6(. حيث حقق املشاركون يف الدراسة من الذكور واإلانث رحًبا مبقدار ₦ 340 و154.24 و ₦ 433 و 991.01 على التوايل. كان أخطر املعوقات الي واجهها العاملني هو تقلب األسعار )الذكور = ٪86.4 واإلانث = ٪80.0(. أظهرت النتائج العالقة بني جتربة تربية الدجاج والوصول اىل اإلرشــاد والتأمني وعمر الطيور والتبين. خلصنا إىل أن تبين ممارســات إدارة دجاج التســمني احملددة من قبل املمارسني ميكن أن حيسن اإلنتاج والدخل. أظهرت هذه الدراسة أن أداء اإلانث كان أفضل من أداء الذكور يف تبين تقنيات إدارة دجاج التسمني. ميكن أن يــؤدي توفــري خدمــات االئتمــان واإلرشــاد والتأمــني وحتســني ممارســات اإلدارة إىل معاجلــة القيــود اخلطــرية الــي يواجههــا ممارســو إنتــاج الدجــاج الالحــم. الكلمات املفتاحية: ممارسي تربية الدواجن، اإلنتاج، التبين، اجلنس، ممارسات اإلدارة 29Research Papers Gbigbi, E-Okoronkwo hence making the broiler enterprise a very good source of income for both male and female farmers because of the huge market share it has. Again, poultry plays a profound role as an instrument for curbing poverty, improving livelihoods and reducing unemployment in communities, societies and the country at large (Mak- enete et al., 2008). With the increasing number of males and females in the broiler production enterprise, the future prospects of expanding the production for more profit is very necessary. Gender is not just about wom- en, it pertain to men and women. Gender denotes to social, political economic and cultural characteristics and chances that are related with being male and female (Ezedinma and Okechukwu, 2013). In the broiler production process, the farmer is con- cerned with efficiency in the use of inputs to achieve ei- ther cost minimization, output maximization and profit maximization or a combination of the three objectives (Rubina and Haisnan, 2011). Over the past decades, an awareness on gender issues in the world’s development and progress has increased (Rahman et al., 2007). There has been an increasing recognition of women’s contributions to agricultural production particularly broiler production today. Women are critical actors in the management of poultry resources and most farms activity in all parts of the world while men drift to the cities searching for paid employment. It was reported that 60-80% of agrarian activities which women en- gaged-in differ from one region to another for different farm-based activities (Egwuma et al., 2018). The target of every entrepreneur is to attain the high- est possible profit and the potential for profitability is hinged on the fact that Nigeria still imports poultry products such as frozen foods to make up for the short fall in demand (Gueye, 2002). It is evidently clear that with the right knowledge of investing in broiler produc- tion and the ability of the farmer to engage in proper management practices, there is room for an impressive yield in profits for the farmer. Despite the profitability and worth of the poultry business, particularly the broiler chicken in the nation’s economy, broiler farms still face challenges which are inimical to the development of the firm. This challenge is due to inefficient management conducted on the farms which has resulted to drastic loss of birds (high bird mortality), diseases and parasites, poor feeding and housing preparation and also marketing problems there- by reducing the level of protein consumption by the population, reduced sustainability and even the living standard amongst farmers and their households. Hence, management is important to sustain poultry production (Alabi and Aruna, 2006). In Nigeria, among array of livestock farming engaged by women in most rural areas, broiler production stands prominent and has received government reas- surances through innovation dissemination, source of inputs and technical assistance on broiler production provided by ADP extension arm of Ministry of Agricul- ture of diverse States of Nigeria (Nwaru et al., 2010). There is therefore the need to streamline any exist- ing disparity in relationship between men and women in their involvements in farm activities and decision making process on farms. Good management, such as proper housing preparation, routine health practices and growing the standard of cleanliness which involves biosecurity practices, medication and mitigation should be conceded to attain sustainable protein consumption, reduction in poverty and improvement in the standard of living of the producers (Rahman et al., 2007). De- spite women’s substantial participation and productive inputs, their role in livestock production has often be- ing underestimated or, ignored by the society (IFAD, 2007). Most importantly the female gender constitutes the most user groups collecting the poultry produce, such as eggs and meat in order to tackle the subsistent needs of their families. Therefore, the practice of sus- tainable poultry management is not complete without their participation. However, government policies and management strategies have remained blind and have also ignored the intimate relationship between gen- der and poultry management, hence women continue to agonize and their drudgery increases (Gbigbi et al., 2010). Gbigbi (2017) investigated the factors affect- ing profit efficiency of broiler producers in Nigeria. A mean profit efficiency of 65% was recorded in the area of study. The factors which influenced the profit efficien- cy of broiler production were gender, age, experience and training while cooperative membership exerted a significant effect on their profit inefficiency level at 1%. Ezeh et al. (2012) asserted that level of education is related to the efficient management of broiler farms, such as light enclosure, vaccination, medication and feeding can bring about significant improvement in pro- ductivity of broiler production. Ovharhe et al. (2020) positioned that most family members are involved as work force in backyard poultry farm business and that men, women and progenies play designated roles in the poultry investments. This contributes to food security and income generation. Having appraised the gaps in the poultry sector and agricultural business, it became pertinent to undertake a study on the examination of the gender analysis of practitioners of broiler produc- tion management practices in Delta State, Nigeria. This study focused on some relevant objectives, such as to: (i) describe the socio-economic features of male and fe- male, (ii) identify the various broiler management prac- tices, (iii) examine the factors influencing the men and women decision to adopt broiler management prac- tices, (iv) determine the major constraints militating against broiler management practices, (v) identify the reasons for adopting the broiler management practices and, and (vi) determine the costs and returns of broiler production by gender. The research hypothesis: There 30 SQU Journal of Agricultural and Marine Sciences, 2023, Volume 28, Issue 2 Gender Analysis of Practitioners of Broiler Production Management Practices in Delta State, Nigeria is no significant difference in adoption level of manage- ment practices between the male and female categories. Materials and Methods Many poultry farms involved in broiler production ac- tivities are located in clusters of communities in Okpe Local Government, Delta State. Based upon this, it be- came appropriate to choose it for the study. Delta State geographical coordinates are 5o26N, 5o57E and 5.433oN 5.9 50oE (NPC, 2006). A multistage sampling procedure was utilized to draw respondents for the study. Firstly, purposive sam- pling of fifteen communities namely Ohore, Ometa, Orerokpe, Oku-uvo, Adeje, Okuokoko, Meredje, Evriey- en, Otemewo, Jeddo, Obokodo, Ughoton, Adagbarassa, Egborode and Oha. In the second stage the respondents were randomly and proportionally selected based on the size of farmers’ involvement in each community. In all, a total of 104 broiler farmers were selected from a large population of 346 broiler farmers (Table 1). Data collection Primary data was used in the study. It was collected us- ing well-structured questionnaire and interview sched- ule, which was administered to the broiler producers. The questionnaire collected information on these vari- ables which included management, cost and returns of the broiler business, constraints and the socioeconomic characteristics of the farmers. Method of data analysis: Data for the study was analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics. Objectives (i), (ii), (iii) and (v) was realized with descriptive statistics such as mean, fre- quency distribution and percentage with objective (iii) was achieved with multiple regression model, objective (vii) was achieved with the cost and returns analysis. Model Specification The implicit specification of the model was given as: Y = f (X1, X2, X3 ----------Xn). The explicit form of the model was given as: Y = B0 + B1 X1 + B2 X2 + B3 X3 + B4 X4 + B5 X5 + B6 X6 + e where Y is percentage of the index of management prac- tices, X1 is age (years), X2 is educational level (years), X3 is family size, X4 is labour (man-days), X5 is experi- ence (years), X6 is credit accessibility (dummy = 1 if yes, otherwise = 0), X7 is extension services access (dummy = 1 if yes, otherwise = 0), X8 is insurance use (dummy = 1 if yes, otherwise = 0), X10 is stock size (number of birds), X11 is age of birds (weeks), X12 is mortality rate (%), B0 is intercept, B1-B12 is coefficient of parameter estimates, and e is error term. Results and Discussion Results in Table 2 reveals that the predominant age for men was 25-37 years, while the women ranged from 38-49 years. They were followed by those be- tween 38 and 49 years having 25.5% for male and the females 25-37 years respectively. The mean age of the males was 45 years and 43 years for women hence they are vibrant to engage in broiler management practic- es. Educational Attainment at tertiary level was 44.1% for male and 66.7% for female. This shows that the fe- male attained more tertiary educational level than the male. There is needed for education to unlock the potential of farmers to make them risk averse and im- proves the adoptability of best practices (FAO, 2008). Table 1. Result of random sampling of respondents Community Farmers’ population Respondents sampled (30%) Ohore 19 6 Ometa 16 5 Oreokpe 44 13 Oku-uvo 22 7 Adeje 16 5 Okuokoko 25 8 Meredje 44 13 Evrieyen 9 3 Otomewo 19 6 Jeddo 25 8 Gbokodo 41 9 Ughoton 13 4 Adagbarassa 9 3 Eghorode 25 8 Oha 19 6 Total = 15 346 104 31Research Papers Gbigbi, E-Okoronkwo Table 2. Socioeconomic Attributes of Broiler Producers Variable Frequency (N =59) Frequency(N=45) Age (years) Male category Female category 25 – 37 21 (35.7) 13 (28.8) 38 – 49 15 (25.5) 21 (46.5) 50 – 57 13 (22.1) 8 (17.7) 58 – 67 10 (15.3 3 (6.6) Mean 45 years 43 years Educational Status No formal education 10 (16.9) 8 (17.8) Primary education 8 (13.6) 1 (2.2) Secondary education 15 (25.4) 6 (13.3) Tertiary education 26 (44.1) 30 (66.7) Marital status Married 45 (76.3) 34 (75.6) Single 12 (20.3) 4 (8.9) Divorced 0 3 (6.7) Widowed 0 4 (8.9) Widower 2(3.4) 0 Farming experience (years) 1-9 42 (71.2) 44 (97.7) 10-17 10 (17) 1 (2.2) 18-30 7 (11.9) 0 (0) Mean 3 7 Stock size 15 – 60 15 (25.5) 3 (6.67) 70 – 125 11 (18.7) 2 (4.44) 130 – 300 11 (18.7) 3 (6.67) 330 – 650 12 (20.4) 34 (75.6) 700 – 2000 10 (17) 3 (6,67) Mean 185 birds 327 birds Income (₦) <50,000 6 (10.2) 2 (4.4) 50,000 – 99,999 18 (30.5) 6 (13.3) 100,000 – 199,999 30 (50.4) 21 (46.7) 200,000 – 299,999 5(8.5) 15 (33.3) 300,000 and above 0 (0) 1 (2.2) Mean 122880.86 172221.72 Cooperative membership Yes 16 (27.1) 40 (88.9) No 43 (72.9) 5 (11.1) Extension activities Yes 12 (20.3) 16 (35.6) No 47 (79.7) 33 (73.3) Farm insurance practice Yes 2 (3.4) 3 (6.7) No 57 (96.6) 43 (95.6) Household size 1-3 15 (25.4) 11 (24.4) 4-6 41 (69.5) 27 (60.3) 7-9 3 (5.1) 7 (15.6) Mean 5 4 Credit access Yes 23(39.0) 7(15.6) No 36(61.0) 38(84.4) 32 SQU Journal of Agricultural and Marine Sciences, 2023, Volume 28, Issue 2 Gender Analysis of Practitioners of Broiler Production Management Practices in Delta State, Nigeria The result showed that 76.3% of male respondents were married while the single and widower accounted for 23.7%. For the female respondents, 75.6% and 8.9% ac- counted for those who were married and single. Only 15.6% of them were divorced and widowed. The high percentage of married respondents has implications for household size which in turn influences the broiler man- agement practices. Ovharhe et al. (2020) opined that most backyard poultry farmers were married with small household size which was advantageous for cheap la- bour in small scale poultry farming. The result revealed that 71.2% of the male respondents had experience of 1-9 years followed by 17% who had between 10-17 years of experience and 11.9% had 18-30 years of experience. On the other hand, 97.7% of female respondents had 1-9 years of experience as against the male respondents and the least years of farming experience of respondents was 2.2% having 10-17 years of experience. The mean farm- ing experience age of male and female respondents were three and seven years respectively. This suggests that fe- male respondents had more farming experience because they engaged more of their time on poultry farming, which gave them more ability to combine resources in an optimal manner, given the available resources (Nhe- machama and Hassan, 2007). The finding in this study indicated that 25.5% of male respondents had stock size of 15-60 birds followed by 20.4% and 18.7% having 330-650 and 70-125 birds, sim- ilarly another 18.7% had 130-300 birds. Also 17% the least, had stock size between 700-2000 birds. While, the female respondents had (28.8%) stock size of 15-60 birds followed closely by 28.8% having 130-300 birds. About 26.6% of the female respondents had 70-125 birds. While only 6.7% had 700-2000 birds. The implication of this result is that the female respondents participat- ed actively in carrying out these management practices which in turn increased their profit margin for expan- sion or increase in stock size. The finding revealed that those who earned less than ₦50,000 were 4.4% for the female respondents while the male respondents were 10.2%. Those who earned ₦50,000 to ₦99,999 were 13.3% of the female respon- dents whereas the proportion of male respondents earn- ing the same amount was 30.5%. However, those earning ₦100,000- ₦199,999 were having 46.7% for the female respondents and the male respondents was (50.4%) respectively. Moreover, those who earned ₦200,000 to ₦300,000 and above in the female respondents are 35.5% while the male respondents 8.5% in this catego- ry. The mean income of the female respondents was ₦172,221.72 and ₦ 122,880.86 for the male respondents. This was not surprising because the female stock more birds than male. Ovharhe and Gbigbi (2016) reported a similar average income level per annum of poultry pro- ducers in Fadama III project in Delta State of Nigeria. Respondents’ male (55.9%) and female (88.9%) belong to cooperative societies in gender disaggregation. This is obvious since more female are seeking for investment capital from cooperative which is a cheaper source than formal banking bureaucracy. About 20.3 percent of male (20.3%) and 35.6% of female had contact to extension workers on monthly basis. Ovharhe et al. (2020) report- ed about the poor extension outreach in Delta State. Respondents’ male (3.4%) and female (6.7%) belong to farm insurance bodies. This result corroborate Gbigbi and Ikechukwuka (2020) findings on accessibility to in- surance in Nigeria. This is very poor. It calls for aware- ness creation in the broiler production business. The predominant household size range between 4-6 persons for both categories. This was followed by those who had between 1-3 family members. But still about 5.1% of the male respondents had household size of 7-9 persons as against 15.6% for the females. The average household size for both the males and females was 5 persons and 4 persons respectively. Moderate household size was re- ported in the region. The result showed that more males Table 3. Management practices adopted by respondents Adoptable Management Practices Male Female n = 59 Responses (%) n = 45 Responses (%) Vaccination 55 93.2 45 100.0 Feeding practices 50 84.7 45 100.0 Record keeping 52 88.1 42 93.3 Disease management 48 81.4 41 91.1 Marketing system 48 81.4 37 82.2 Stocking density 36 61.0 28 62.2 Litter management 51 86.4 29 64.4 Housing management 42 71.2 29 64.4 Light management 36 61.0 23 51.1 Biosecurity 23 39.0* 17 37.8* Waste recycle 25 42.4* 16 35.6* Source: Field survey data, 2019 *below average implies low adoption rate. Multiple responses 33Research Papers Gbigbi, E-Okoronkwo (39%) had access to credits than their female counterpart (15.6%). This is congruent with Gbigbi and Ikechukwuka (2020) that only a negligible people obtained credit. This could have negative implications on effective manage- ment of practices. Management Practices Utilized by Respondents Entries in Table 3 shows the different types of broiler management practices of respondents disaggregated by gender. The predominant management practices adopt- ed amongst others were vaccination by male (93.2 %) and female (100.0%); feeding practices male (84.7%) and female (100.0%) respectively. The practice of biosecuri- ty and waste recycle has not gained ground in the loca- tion of study for both the male and female broiler farm- ers. The results disclosed that the male folks adopted more of the broiler management technologies in some areas than their female counterparts and vice versa. Reasons for Adopting of Broiler Management Practices As disaggregated by gender, result in Table 4 shows that respondents’ best reasons for adopting of broiler man- agement practices were increase profits by 96.6% male Table 4. Reasons for Adoption of Management practices by Respondents Reasons Male Female n = 59 Responses (%) n = 45 Responses (%) Increase profits 57 96.6 43 95.6 Efficient financial management 49 83.1 41 91.1 Early recognition, prevention and treat- ment of disease. 46 78.0 40 88.9 Efficient diet of birds to increase produc- tion 47 79.7 39 86.7 Reduce cost of production 50 84.7 37 82.2 Efficient physical management 29 49.2 32 71.1 Reliability in price and quality of feed 27 45.8 29 66.7 Better organization of stocking 23 39.0* 22 48.9* Source: Field survey data, 2019. *below average implies low reason Table 5. Cost and Returns of Respondents Items Male (mean) ₦ Female (mean) ₦ Day old chicks 13587.97 21236.27 Feeds 146832.20 203993.22 Medication 11501.44 16387.71 Veterinary services 7250.59 8886.0169 Transportation 1367.80 1705.08 Labour 14161.02 15359.32 Water 957.63 786.44 Equipment 39209.32 60719.15 Bulbs 7853.39 12337.46 Electricity 1623.73 1133.90 Wheel barrow 933.90 1155.25 Stores 1033.90 907.62 Shovels 1890.68 3748.31 Hoes 928.81 1337.29 Cutlass 3040.68 4773.56 Total Cost 252173.05 354466.61 Number of birds sold 587994.92 782237.29 Poultry droppings sold 4349.32 6067.80 Total Revenue 592344.24 788305.10 Profit 340154.24 433991.01 Source: Field survey data, 2019. 34 SQU Journal of Agricultural and Marine Sciences, 2023, Volume 28, Issue 2 Gender Analysis of Practitioners of Broiler Production Management Practices in Delta State, Nigeria and 95.6% female. While the lowest reasons were better organization of stocking by 39% male and 48.9% female. This infers that poultry producers do not have issues with stock arrangements. Cost and Returns Analysis The result (Table 5) showed that the total revenues of the male and female respondents were ₦592, 344.24 and ₦788, 305.10 respectively and the total cost of produc- tion were ₦252, 173.05 for the male respondents and ₦354, 466.61 for the female respondents. However, the female and male respondents had profits of ₦340, 154.24 and. ₦433, 991.01 separately. The implication of this re- sult indicates that the female earned more compared to their male counterparts in the study area. This findings is different from Gbigbi (2017) that male farmers income per annum were higher that female.in Nigeria. Constraints Faced by Broiler Farmers For the male and female gender, the most serious con- straints experienced were the problem of price fluc- tuation (86.4% and 80.0%), financial difficulty (71.2% and 80.0%), predators attack (78.0% and 77.8%), loss- es due to viral diseases (72.9% and 84.4%), and lack of facilities (66.1% and 64.4%) respectively. The less seri- ous constraints to both were malnutrition, inadequate knowledge of vaccination, lack of veterinary services, high interest rate and inadequate marketing facilities. Hence they could not affect the level of adoption of man- agement practices by both categories of respondents. Factors Influencing Adoption of Broiler Man- agement Practices The criteria for selecting the lead equation were num- ber of significant variables, magnitude of R-square and Table 6. Constraints faced by the respondents (multiple responses) Perceived Constraints Male Female n = 59 Responses (%) n = 45 Responses (%) Price fluctuation 51 86.4 36 80.0 Financial difficulty 42 71.2 36 80.0 Problem of predators 46 78.0 35 77.8 Loss due viral disease 43 72.9 38 84.4 Problem of ectoparasites 39 66.1 36 80.0 Lack of facilities 39 66.1 29 64.4 Problem of spoilage 38 64.4 34 75.6 Lack of technique 34 57.6 29 64.4 Inadequate marketing facilities 25 42.4* 15 33.3* Inadequate knowledge of vaccination 20 33.9* 19 42.2* Malnutrition 28 47.5* 21 46.7* Lack of veterinary services 23 39.0* 16 35.6* High interest rate 28 47.5* 21 46.7* Source: Field survey data, 2019. *below average implies less serious constraints Table 7. Factors influencing adoption of Broiler Management Practices (Male) Variables Coef. Std. Err. T Age -0.037113 0.0231361 -1.60 Educational Qualification 0.0470147 0.0209786 2.24** Stocksize 0.386497 0.0191869 2.01** Farming Experience 0.0095106 0.0155625 0.61 House hold size 0.000897 0.024067 0.04 Labour used in Man-days 0.0082348 0.0226344 0.36 Mortality rate -0.0146033 0.0166115 -0.88 Credit Access -0.034495 0.0233975 -1.47 Extension Access 0.423123 0.0179987 2.35** Farm insurance 0.0428668 0.0238195 1.80* Bird Age 0.3734668 0.0188023 19.86** _cons 0.0756044 0.1194828 0.63 Source: Field survey data, 2019. **, * Significant at 5% and 10% 35Research Papers Gbigbi, E-Okoronkwo a priori expectation. The exponential function was cho- sen as the lead equation for these criteria for the male respondents and double log function was chosen as the lead equation for the criteria of the female respondents and double log for both gender pooled regression (Table 7). The results presented for the male respondents in- cludes education, stock size, extension access, insurance and age of birds were significant. Educational attain- ment was positive and significant at 5% probability level. This implies that increase in educational level can lead to a corresponding increase in the adoption of broiler man- agement technologies. This means that farmers with higher educational attainment would prefer more adop- tion of management practices in order to enhance profit of the farm. And this is in accordance with the a-priori expectation. The coefficient of stock size was positive and significant. This means that a unit increase in stock size will leading to an increase in the adoption of broiler management practices. The coefficient of the access to extension services had a positive significant relationship with adoption of broiler management practices. This im- plies that a unit increase in access to extension services can lead to a unit increase in the adoption of broiler management practices. The coefficient of insurance was positive and significant. This suggest that a unit increase in insurance use can lead to a corresponding increase in the adoption of broiler management practices. The coef- ficient of the bird age was positive and statistically sig- nificant at 1% probability level. This means that increase in bird age will lead to a corresponding increase in the adoption of broiler management practices. The coefficients for farming experience was signifi- cant at 5% level and positively affected the level of adop- tion of broiler management practices of female respon- dents. The positive coefficient of farming experience of the female respondents implies that any increase in farming experience will result in increased adoption of broiler management practices by the farmers respective- Table 8. Factors influencing adoption of management practices (Female) Variables Coef. Std. Err. T Age -0.0741208 0.0397425 -1.87* Educational Qualification -0.217197 0.2377444 -0.91 Stocksize 0.0112116 0.076606 0.15 Farming Experience 0.5120179 0.1667688 3.07** Household size 0.0045498 0.094551 0.05 Labour used in Man-days 0.0710373 0.0803996 0.88 Mortality rate -0.0270327 0.0834433 -0.32 Credit Access 0.1717716 0.081196 2.12** Extension Access 0.1919735 0.1753499 1.09 Farm insurance 0.2391126 0.0787231 3.04** Bird Age 0.6228541 0.0963497 6.46** _cons 0.671355 0.3935401 1.71 Source: Field Survey data, 2019. **, * Significant at 5% and 10% Table 9. Factors influencing adoption of management practices (Female) Variables Coef. Std. Err. T Age -0.0143 0.0343 -0.42 Educational Qualification -0.1179 0.1602 -0.74 Stock size 0.0354 0.0965 0.37 Farming Experience 0.2833 0.1045 2.71** House hold size 0.0376 0.0719 0.52 Labour used in Man-days -0.0686 0.0806 -0.85 Mortality rate 0.0319 0.0828 0.39 Credit Access 0.0840 0.0726 1.16 Extension Access 3.4949 0.1483 23.6*** Farm insurance 2.6341 0.0794 33.2*** Bird Age 0.9167 0.0842 10.88** _cons 0.6143 0.2825 2.17 **, * Significant at 5% and 10% 36 SQU Journal of Agricultural and Marine Sciences, 2023, Volume 28, Issue 2 Gender Analysis of Practitioners of Broiler Production Management Practices in Delta State, Nigeria ly. As stated by Bassey and Okon, (2008), experience has been found to enhance the use of improved practices. The coefficient of age was negative and significant as 10% probability level. This implies that increase in age of respondent will lead to a decrease in the adoption of broiler management practices. The coefficient of credit access was positively signed and significant at 5% level of probability. This depicts that farmers with more access to credit had increased probability of adoption of broiler management practices in the study area. The coefficient of insurance was positive and significant at 5% probabil- ity level. This suggest that increase in insurance use will lead to an increase in adoption of broiler management practices in the study area. The coefficient of bird age was positively significant at 1% probability level. This means increase in bird age will lead to the same increase in the adoption of broiler management practices by the female folks in the study area. Factors Influencing Adoption of Broiler Man- agement Practices (Pooled Result) The pooled result for male and female respondents showed that only farming experience, extension access, insurance and bird age were significant in influencing adoption of broiler management practices. The coeffi- cients for farming experience exerted a positively signifi- cant relationship in the level of adoption of the male and female respondents at 5% respectively. This implies that farming experience can result in increased adoption of broiler management practices. This finding support the findings of Gbigbi et al.(2010) respectively who stated that highly experienced farmers are known to have ac- cumulated enough knowledge through several years of trial and error. The coefficient of access to extension ser- vices was positive and significant at 5% probability level. This implies that a unit increase in access to extension services can lead to corresponding increase in adoption of broiler management practices. The coefficient of in- surance use was positive and significant at 5% probabil- ity level. This implies that a unit increase in insurance use will lead to a corresponding increase in the adoption of broiler management practices. The coefficient of bird age was positive and highly statistically significant at 1% probability level meaning that a unit increase in bird age will lead to the same increase in the adoption of broiler management practices. Conclusion Based on evidence from the study, it was concluded that the adoption of broiler management practices was car- ried out by female respondents than the male respon- dents in the areas of cooperative membership, access to fund and profit from business. Broiler farmers showed the best reasons for adoption of management practices and increased profitability by both male and female. On gender disaggregation, performances were closely high in the use of adoptable practices such as vaccination, feeding equipment, proper record keeping, stocking density, litter management, housing management and disease management. The least adopted were biosecuri- ty and waste recycle which are yet to gain ground. One of the most serious constraints was financial difficulty. Besides, since identified constraints were manageable, with the adoption of improved broiler management practices, poultry farmers’ living standard would be positively impacted in Delta State, Nigeria. Based on the finding of the study, the following recommendation were made: (i) Biosecurity measures should be taken in order to prevent the introduction and the spread of disease in a poultry flock. As this was seen to be least adopted amongst other management practices. (ii) Ex- tension services should be made available in order to en- sure continuous training on improved housing, feeding, predators and disease control. (iii) Government should ensure that farmers have adequate access to credit facil- ities and also insurance policies in order to expand their farm for profits. References Alabi RA, Aruna MB. (2006). Technical efficiency of fam- ily poultry production in Niger-Delta, Nigeria. Jour- nal of Central European Agriculture 6(4): 531-538. Beutler A. (2007). 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