A survey was conducted with the aid of
questionnaires, farm visits and personal
interviews in fifty-one (51) smallholder pig
farms across three Local Government Areas
each in Imo, Abia and Akwa Ibom states,
Southeastern Nigeria, to determine the diversity
of forage crop species used in pig feeding. The
result showed that pigs consumed a diverse
array of forage species made up of thirty eight
(38) plant species which comprised trees,
shrubs, lianas, woody vines, herbs, forbs and
grasses belonging to 32 genera and 20 families.
Important plant families that contributed to the
forage resource base of pigs include legume
families, Fabaceae (Papilionaceae) and
Mimosoiceae comprised 10.5 and 2.6%,
respectively. Six (6) plants in the family
Asteraceae accounted for 15.79%, the highest
proportion of forage plants recorded in a family
in the survey. Each of these families,
Eurphobiaceae, Anarcadiaceae, Musaceae and
Poaceae formed 5.26% respectively while
Loganiaceae, Amaranthaceae and
Convolvulaceae formed 7.89% each of the
arrays of plants obtained in the survey. Each of
these families, Acanthaceae, Arecaceae,
Caricaceae, Commelinaceae among others
formed 2.6% of the identified forage plants
respectively. Eleven (11) plants or 28.95% of the
identified forage plants were consumed avidly
and were classified as most preferred plants by
pigs. They included Asystasia gangetica,
Amaranthus hybridus, Alternanthera
bettzickiana, Carica papaya, Ipomoea batatas,
Manihot esculenta, Telfairia occidentalis,
Asystasia gangetica, Syndrella nodiflora, and
Panicum maximum. The diversity and
preferences of the plants reflects the varied
feeding and management systems, sources,
availability and utilization of forage plants.