Poultry farmers in Nigeria have decried possible collapse of the poultry sub-sector if the government fails to take immediate action to mitigate the incessant rise in the cost of feed.
The PAN Secretary, FCT Chapter, Mr Hakeem Musa,made the call on Friday in an interview with newsmen in Abuja, as he seeks urgent intervention of President Tinubu’s administration on the hike in poultry feeds.
The secretary attributed the high cost of feed to inadequate maize and soybeans being major ingredients for feed production as well as ban on maize importation.
According to him, the hike in feed has negatively impacted on the farmers as a lot of farms have shut down while some other farmers have also reduced the capacity of their birds drastically.
However, the Chief Executive Officer of Mushak Agro Consult, Mr Musa frowned at the perpetual hike in price of feed adding that the government could intervene by giving grants to farmers in order to remain in business.
Citing an example with layers’ mash, Musa said a 25kg bag of feed as at November ending was N8,000 plus, first week of last month rose to N9,100 second week N9,350 third week N9,550.
He, however, said that at the moment the same bag of feed had risen to N10,950.
“Nobody knows whether this increment is going to stop anytime soon because November, December is supposed to be the time for surplus of maize and if it is this expensive, what are we expecting from February and March?
“We are praying that President Tinubu’s administration will focus attention on the industry and also be confident and hopeful that intervention will be given to the poultry sub-sector of the country.
“The basic intervention we need is grant not loans to sustain the industry because over time farmers have lost a lot of money, so if they are taking loans now they will not be able to pay back,” he said.
