Poultry farmers on Tuesday lamented various challenges facing the sector and appealed for Federal Government’s intervention.
The farmers made the calls in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria NAN) in Lagos.
Mr Denison Tsekelor, a farmer, said the major problem facing poultry farmers was the difficulty in the procurement of feed-meal for their flock.
According to him, most Nigerian poultry farmers are out of business because of the inability to feed their birds.
“Poultry farmers are currently having issues in providing feed for their flock.
“The major ingredient in bird feed is maize and since we do not have much maize in circulation because of the ban on importation, bird feed has become highly expensive.
“Many local poultry farmers have given up on the trade already, due to the hike in the price of maize and day-old chicks.
“At least, they need a 100 bag of feed-meal to feed 500 birds and this amounts to over N300,000.
“So, how many farmers will be able to pool that amount for feeding alone.
“If you take a survey of poultry farms across the country, all you will meet are empty pens, except for a few that have extra cash to keep their farms running,’’ Tsekelor said.
He expressed the hope that the proposed N600 billion Federal Government intervention fund would get to local farmers.
“We have been hearing of government interventions, so we hope it gets to poultry farmers this time.”
Another farmer, Mr Emmanuel Iregbeyen, said that local poultry farmers needed any available help to keep productivity going.
“Procuring maize for bird feed has been the major challenge.
“It is a real trying time for the Nigerian poultry farmers in view of the ban on maize importation.
“Any help the government can render to the poultry sub-sector presently will be a welcome development.
“These are difficult times for poultry farmers because breaking even is not achievable by most of us.
“The government can help boost poultry sub-sector by making access to loans easier for local farmers. “We do not have maize in our reserves and the new maize is not ready for poultry use,’’ Iregbeyen said.
