Poultry Farmers under the aegis of the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) in Alimosho, Lagos State have lamented the rising cost of poultry inputs.
The farmers in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) highlighted some challenges faced in the sector on Monday in Lagos.
They called for the government’s intervention in subsidising the cost of some of the production inputs to ease their travails.
Mr Oluwole Fayefunmi, PAN Alimosho Zone Chairman, said “We are suffering from the high cost of materials we use to produce chicken feeds.
“If the government can subsidise the rate of getting our maize and soya which are major components of chicken feeds, it will go a long way to ease our travails.
“When the cost of input is on the increase, it will impede development and growth in the industry. Which in turn lead to the high cost of production and ultimately a hike in poultry feed prices.
“Presently we cannot get the price of a crate of eggs less than N1500 because of the high cost of inputs. A bag of feed we used to get for N4200 is as high as N6500 now.’’
On his part, Mr Stephen Olufemi, former Secretary-General of PAN Lagos chapter, said poultry farmers in the state had the problem of lack of readily available markets for their produce.
“We have the problem of getting ready to market for eggs as Nigerians would rather buy beef than eggs; however the protein from eggs is more nutritious than beef.
“We hope to create more markets for poultry produce than we already have.
“The cost of day-old chicks is on the increase on daily basis. The cost of bird feed is also on the increase despite the intervention of the government,’’ Olufemi said.
He urged the government to relate with poultry farmers directly.
“We are most times short-changed by the channels through which the government sends interventions to us.
“If the government for example is allocating N10 to farmers before it gets to us we may only receive N1 because of the numerous channels it passes through before getting to us,” he said.
In addition, Mr Adewale Balogun, a Patron, PAN Alimosho Zone, said if the government met a quarter of poultry farmers’ demands, the sector would grow to its full potential.
“We want the government to aid easy access to farm inputs, and help improve the entire poultry value-chain in order to improve its productivity,” Balogun added
