Agriculture

POULTRY farmers have lamented the high cost of production and called for government intervention to address the challenges affecting the sector.

The farmers made the call in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Lagos.

Mr Iyiola Mojeed, Treasurer, Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), Lagos state chapter, said the cost of poultry feeds have crippled the sector.

Mojeed called for the government’s intervention in permitting poultry association to import necessary components needed for the production of poultry feeds.

“The major issue we have in raising poultry and egg production is the cost of inputs for bird feed. The inputs we need to produce animal feeds are too expensive.

“To raise poultry and get the desired expectation is a function of what you feed the birds with. If you feed low quality, you will get low quality output.

“Even presently, there are some components of the bird feeds that are not even available to buy in spite of the high cost.

“We have been negotiating with the government at both state and federal levels. They are trying their best to help the situation but their best is not enough.

“All we ask is that the government grants PAN at the national level import license to enable us import maize and other materials for feed production,” Mojeed said.

He also called for friendly policies that would cushion the effects of high cost of production in the sector.

“To move the poultry sector forward, we need friendly policies that will help to cushion the effects of the high cost of production,” he said.

On his part, Mr Stephen Olufemi, the former Secretary-General PAN Lagos, said a lot of farmers have left the trade because of their inability to break even.

“Poultry production has dropped drastically in recent times due to a barrage of reasons, ranging from insecurity and high cost of production inputs.

“The cost of feed has skyrocketed farmers cost of production. When we used to sell eggs at N400 per crate, we used to make as much as N200 profit per crate.

“However, now crates of eggs are sold from the farm gate for as high as N1,700 to N2,000, yet we do not make up to N100 profit per crate due to high cost of feeds.

“This is one of the reasons a lot of poultry farmers have left the trade because of their inability to break even. This in turn has resulted in scarcity and high cost of poultry produce,” Olufemi said. (NAN)

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Tags: Iyiola Mojeed Stephen Olufemi