A study of poultry farms in Enugu State Nigeria and mapping of their mechanization needs using Global Positioning System (GPS) and Geographical Information System (GIS)

Poultry has been identified by the World Bank funded Commercial Agricultural Development Program (CADP) as a value chain in the agricultural sector of Enugu State and thus has the potential for commercial agriculture. This work has investigated poultry farms in three production cluster areas in Enugu State namely: Emene (in Enugu East) located on 6.523815°N, 7.4151535°E and 1236 ft; Ngwo (in Enugu North/Udi) located on 6.523815°N, 7.57528°E and 572 ft and Nsukka located on 6.234754°N, 7.326473°E and 3422 ft. The study identified the position of each farm using Global Positioning System (GPS) hand held device; their specific mechanization needs and challenges limiting the performances of the farms using structured questionnaire, oral interviews and on-the-spot assessments. Position and mechanization data were represented in a map using ArcGIS version 10.3. The farms visited produce eggs, broilers or layers or combinations of them, and the sizes of the farms range from unit of thousands to tens of thousands of birds; these generally are commercial poultry farms but of  low or medium scale levels. The survey reveals that most of the poultry farms are having the following mechanization needs: Power supply, egg handling, road network, waste handling, feed mill, pelleting machine, battery cage, automatic drinker, water pump, and automatic feeder; however the need depends on the level of production. Other problems or challenges facing the farms visited as observed during the survey are classified as management problems quantified as 60%, technical problems 30% and the problem of cost 10%. Result of this work is a step further in developing and building up the much talked about commodity-specific data base system for agribusiness decision support and development in the local area. Key words: Mapping, poultry farms, mechanization needs, Global Positioning System (GPS), Geographical Information System (GIS).