AN ASSESSMENT OF TRAINING NEEDS OF QUAIL FARMERS IN ILORIN, KWARA STATE, NIGERIA

Owing to its relatively high nutritional advantage, quail bird production has attained increased popularity in Nigeria. However, quail bird farmers need to be trained on the management practices in order to ensure higher quantity and quality. The main purpose of this research was to assess the training needs of the quail farmers in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria. Systematic random sampling was used to select 120 respondents from a list of Quail farmers in Ilorin metropolis. Data collected using a structured interview schedule were subjected to descriptive statistical techniques such as frequency counts, percentages, mean scores and ranks. Results showed that majority (72.5%) of the quail farmers were males with mean age of 42.3years.Majority (45.8%) of the respondents had secondary education. Workshop/seminar attendance (mean=1.6)and Extension agents (mean=1.52) were the major sources of information on quail farming in the study area. Based on the findings, the study concluded that the quail farmers needed training in some important management practices such as vaccination of birds, drugs administration, feed formulation, egg safety and cleanliness, and mortality management. Therefore, it is imperative that more training programs should be put in place for quail farmers in order to enhance productivity.