SOCIO- ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS INFLUENCING ADOPTION BEHAVIOUR OF WOMEN CO- OPERATORS AND NON -CO- OPERATORS IN OJU LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF BENUE STATE

This paper focuses pn the influence of selected socio- economic characteristics on adoption of agricultural innovations among women co- operators and non -co- operators in Oju Local Government Area of Benue State. The socio- economic characteristics of the women studied are age, household size, farm income, agricultural credit, possession of durable goods and services, membership of cooperative, non -farm income, level of formal education, farm size, length of membership and contact with extension. For the purpose of this study, 60 women were selected and interviewed from three women cooperative societies, namely Ainu Women Co- operative, Oju Women Co- operative and Oboru Women Co- operative. Also 60 non -co- operators were selected and interviewed from the three villages. T -test was used to determine the significant difference between the means of the two groups. Coefficient of determination (R2) showed the amount of variation explained by the independent variables. For co- operators, the study shows a significant relationship between the household size, level of formal education, farm size,'farm income, non -farm income, agricultural credit, membership of co- operative, possession of durable goods and contact with extension. While for non -co- operators, the study shows a significant relationship between age, household size, farm size, farm income and non -farm income. Step -wise regression shows that for co- operators all the characteristics accounted for 49% of the variance in adoption whereas for non -co- operators all the variables accounted for 28 %

SOCIO- ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS INFLUENCING ADOPTION BEHAVIOUR OF WOMEN CO- OPERATORS AND NON -CO- OPERATORS IN OJU LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF BENUE STATE

This paper focuses pn the influence of selected socio- economic characteristics on adoption of agricultural innovations among women co- operators and non -co- operators in Oju Local Government Area of Benue State. The socio- economic characteristics of the women studied are age, household size, farm income, agricultural credit, possession of durable goods and services, membership of cooperative, non -farm income, level of formal education, farm size, length of membership and contact with extension. For the purpose of this study, 60 women were selected and interviewed from three women cooperative societies, namely Ainu Women Co- operative, Oju Women Co- operative and Oboru Women Co- operative. Also 60 non -co- operators were selected and interviewed from the three villages. T -test was used to determine the significant difference between the means of the two groups. Coefficient of determination (R2) showed the amount of variation explained by the independent variables. For co- operators, the study shows a significant relationship between the household size, level of formal education, farm size,'farm income, non -farm income, agricultural credit, membership of co- operative, possession of durable goods and contact with extension. While for non -co- operators, the study shows a significant relationship between age, household size, farm size, farm income and non -farm income. Step -wise regression shows that for co- operators all the characteristics accounted for 49% of the variance in adoption whereas for non -co- operators all the variables accounted for 28 %

Dressing percentage and Carcass characteristics of four Indigenous cattle breeds in Nigeria

Forty (40) bulls comprising ten (10) each of Azawak, Bunaji, Rahaji and Sokoto Gudali breeds of cattle with live weights ranging between 200 and 235 Kg and aged between 1½ and 2 years were used for the study. Their feed intake, live and carcasses weights and the weights of their major carcass components and offals were used to provide information on their carcass characteristics. Final weight was significantly (P<0.05) different in Rahaji, Sokoto Gudali and Azawak breeds having weight of 300, 300, 299 Kg, respectively compared to Bunaji having 296 Kg. Similarly, feed conversion efficiency was also significantly (P<0.05) different between the breeds with Rahaji, Sokoto Gudali and Azawak breeds having similar (P>0.05) values which were lower than the value obtained for Bunaji. The carcass components used were: empty carcass, fore-and hind-quarters and fillet, internal offals (heart, liver, lungs, spleen, kidney and the rumen) and external offals (head, tail, legs and skin). Results obtained indicated no significant (P>0.05) difference between the breeds. However, the fasted live body weight of Azawak and Rahaji were significantly (P< 0.05) heavier (303.50 and 300 Kg) than Bunaji and Sokoto Gudali (273.5 and 287.5 Kg) respectively. Most of the major carcass components of Rahaji and Azawak were significantly (P< 0.05) higher than those of Bunaji and Sokoto Gudali. It was concluded that breed difference affects carcass traits of cattle.Key words: indigenous cattle; breeds; carcass characteristics; dressing percentage, offal

Assessing the nutritional status of Bunaji bulls fattened on varying inclusions of groundnut haulms and maize offal using some blood metabolites

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of inclusion levels of groundnut haulms (GH) and maize offal (MO) on some blood metabolites from twenty Bunaji bulls. The bulls were divided into four groups in a completely randomized design. They were fed signal grass (Brachiaria decumbens) hay ad libitum and concentrate diets containing groundnut haulms (GH) and maize offal (MO): 80:20% GH: MO, 60:40% GH: MO, 40:60% GH: MO and 20:80% GH: MO, respectively. The animals were fed the diets over a period of 90 days and their nutritional status ascertained from the serum metabolic profile.Keywords: Groundnut haulms, maize offal, packed cell volume, blood metabolites, bunaji bull