Skyrocketing prices: Poultry farmers look to government for maize supply
As a result of the skyrocketing prices of feed ingredients such as maize and soya beans, Lagos poultry farmers have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the state government on maize supply at reasonable prices.
Prices of maize, soya beans and groundnuts have continued to increase astronomically due to competition with the growing human population and lower supply from the Northern part of Nigeria as a result of the current security problems.
Dotun Agbojo, president, Poultry Association of Nigeria, Lagos chapter (PANLAG) spoke on this supply initiative at this year’s Eko Poultry and Allied Products Exposition (EPAPE 2013) held in Lagos recently. He said the supply of the maize to farmers by the Lagos state government would start December 1, this year.
Folusho Adams, chairman of the Ojo wing of PANLAG stated that maize for feeding of chicken is normally of high quality without diseases or pest infiltration. He commended the initiative, stating that sourcing for such high quality maize all year round is not a small fit.
Dotun Agbojo, the PANLAG president, also urged the state government to replicate the initiative with soya bean supply. He then called on the federal government to emulate such support for farmers.
Bolaji Balogun, general manager, Lagos state Agricultural Input Supply, who represented Gbolahan Lawal, the Lagos state commissioner for agriculture said the state government would be supplying 2,000 metric tons of maize monthly while the inputs supply department would supply additional 500 metric tons monthly. Altogether, 2,500 metric tons would be supplied. He added that the sourcing of the maize would be within the country, but in the long term, there may be the need to import.
Russ Nicely, regional agricultural counselor, Embassy of the United States of America was at the event. He said there were businesses in the United States of America ready to collaborate with Nigerian farmers on sourcing inputs from the United States.
Abdur-Rahman Abdullah, a professor and head of the animal production department of Babcock University who was the keynote speaker at the event spoke on the EPAPE 2013 theme: ‘Eating Yourself to a healthy lifestyle.’ He said recent studies show that there is no record of increased risk of cardiac problems from eating eggs. “If anybody is having health issues, they need to watch out, it is not linked to egg consumption,” he stated. He also urged famers to fortify eggs with some nutrients by allowing foraging as it is now practised in the United Kingdom which allows birds to eat green leaves. He also mentioned an on-going research which is the fortification of eggs by feeding birds garlic. “Chicken meat is a good source of niacin that could guard the body against cancer,” he said. He then advised the eating of boiled eggs saying that frying the eggs is what usually introduces cholesterol as most people use oils that have high cholesterol in frying of eggs.
Another high point of the event is the statement by I. Sanni, the representative of the National Agency for Food, Drug, Administration and Control (NAFDAC). He said going forward the agency would undertake regulation of premixes given to livestock and packaged animal feeds. This met with stiff opposition from the farmers who said such regulation by NAFDAC which usually involve high costs may be the last straw that would break the camel’s back in the poultry industry. According to the stakeholders, the poultry industry is already suffering from very high input cost and such regulation would indirectly lead to higher cost of production and kill the industry. But some other stakeholders joined the NAFDAC representative in emphasising that the regulation would protect the farmers’ businesses rather than kill the industry.
By: OLUYINKA ALAWODE