Tropentag, September 14 - 16, 2010 in Zurich "World Food System – A Contribution from Europe"

Growth Performance, Blood Parameters and Return on Investment of Growing Weaner Pigs of Nigerian Indigenous Pig (NIP), Exotic (Large White X Landrace) and Hybrid (F1 Crossbred of NIP X Exotic) Origins under Intensive Management System

Obafemi Awolowo University, Institute of Agricultural Research & Training, Nigeria

Abstract

Thirty-six (36) weaner pigs were randomly selected and assigned to three treatment groups based on their origin: Exotic (Large White × landrace), Nigerian Indigenous Pig (NIP) and Hybrid (F1 crossbred of NIP × Exotic). Twelve pigs per group were used in a completely randomised design, average initial body weight being 10.3±2.03 kg. The objective of this study was to evaluate the growth performance, economy of feed conversion, haematology, serum chemistry and return on investment.
The results showed that feed intake by the Exotic and Hybrid pigs was comparably higher than for the NIP. The weight gain of the pigs was directly related to the feed intake and its cost. Hence, the NIP had a lower gain compared to the Exotic and Hybrid pigs, which had comparable (p > 0.05) gains. The feed:gain ratio, cost of feed per gain and measured haematological indices were comparable for pigs across the three groups (p > 0.05). All serum metabolites were also comparable (p > 0.05) across the groups; only the serum glucose was significantly (p < 0.05) higher for the NIP than for the Exotic and Hybrid (E × L). Net benefit was higher for the Exotic breed (Naira 878) than for Hybrid (NGN 353) and NIP (NGN 976). The marginal rate of return of 43.8% and 104.9 % } suggests that farmers gain an additional net benefit of NGN 44 and NGN 105 for every NGN 100 incurred as costs when they change from NIP to Hybrid and Exotic breeds, respectively. Conclusively, the Hybrid pigs had comparable growth performance, economy of feed conversion, serum and haematological results as the Exotic breed of pigs. Returns on investment showed that even though rearing Exotic breeds of pigs was more cost-effective than the Hybrid, the latter was still an option to be considered for investment over the NIP by pig farmers.

Keywords: Blood chemistry, growth performance, hybrid pig, return on investment

Contact Address: Akinyele Oluwatomisin Kingsley Adesehinwa, Obafemi Awolowo University, Institute of Agricultural Research & Training, Livestock Improvement Programme, Moor Plantation, Ibadan, Nigeria, e-mail: aokadesehinwayahoo.com