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Worried by unfavourable attention given to local poultry production in the country, farmers under the auspices of Poultry Association of Nigeria, Ogun State (PANOG) have requested government at all levels to assist farmers with incentives to help develop the country’s poultry value chain.
The call to develop the entire value chain of poultry production, according to PANOG was borne out of sincere desire to grow the subsector from the production of quality feeds at reasonable prices which would jerk up production, reduce prices of eggs and chickens, and serve as a natural panacea to imported poultry products.
Speaking at an interactive session aimed at ‘Providing Optimum Feed at Optimum Price’ which was organised by PANOG recently in Ijebu-Ode, Blessing Alawode, chairperson, explained that smuggling of imported poultry products was possible when the production capacity of poultry farmers in the country is too low and the prices are not competitive.
“Government needs to offer incentives for farmers who produce soya beans and other inputs that are used for poultry feeds and other industrial purposes, to help feed producers drive down their production cost which translates to other value chain in the subsector,” Alawode said.
She declared that the less attention paid to poultry industry by government remains the major challenge facing the industry and this is affecting pricing which is making Nigeria’s poultry products less competitiveness at the international market.
Alawode stated that until cogent incentives in form high-yielding soya bean seeds and farm produce that form part of poultry feeds ingredients, unhindered access to farm implements and provision of other relevant infrastructure, the production capacity of farmers would remain same and the smuggling of imported poultry products would rise again due to low production capacity.
“There should be high-yielding seeds and seedlings to farmers, in that respect, the focus of government should not only be on rice and other food crops, but there should be holistic approach to all farm produce and agricultural production that are used for the production of other raw materials and goods.
“In Ogun State for instance, the government has acquired tractors and farm implements which are located in Local Government Secretariats but for the farmers to get these implements for agricultural purposes, it is hell.
“That is why we call on government to help us and being about policies that addresses all these challenges,” she added.
James Durosaro, Animal and Poultry Nutritionist, who was one of discussants, accused the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) of not leaving to expectations in terms of standards and regulations on poultry feeds, as all sorts of feeds are allowed into the market which affects production of quality eggs and chickens.
He stated that if SON has been given proper monitoring such act ought to have been prevented.
“In US, we have maize grade I, maize grade II, but in Nigeria, there is nothing like that. Anybody can just supply anything without proper checking. For instance, Nigeria has the best soya in the whole world, yet it is being exported and what we have is Genetically Modified (GMO) to replace the one we have.
“In most cases, SON do more of theoretical aspects in monitoring. If proper monitoring has been in place, a lot of manufacturers would have been charged to court,” Durosaro said.
RAZAQ AYINLA, Abeokuta
