Ikorodu (Lagos State) -Dr. Adegbemi Onigemo, the Head, Animal Production Department, Lagos State Polytechnic, has urged the Federal Government to support livestock producers in the country by subsidizing the cost of feeds.
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Onigemo told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos that the high cost of feeds remained a major challenge to poultry farmers.
According to him, the production of feeds which constitutes between 60 and 80 per cent of total production cost is further bedevilled by human’s competing demand for maize, a major component of animal feed.
“Most of the ingredients that are being used in the production of feeds are those in competition between the livestock and men.
”Lke maize now, the price affects poultry production adversely because maize itself takes about 60 per cent to 70 per cent of production and you know wheat is imported.
“What is produced locally is maize and guinea corn and the guinea corn do not go round and as the price of maize increases, the price of feed increases so also the price of the product (meat).
“So, if government can make maize available to farmers at cheaper rates it would go a long way.’’
Onigemo advised government to increase the capacity of local crop farmers to cultivate crops like wheat as well as other basic feed components to reduce dependence on importation.
He said that inadequate or lack of monitoring of successive government’s agriculture intervention programmes had hindered the success of such projects.
“Government, at a time last year when we had maize crisis, released maize from the grain reserve but the commodity did not get to the farmers directly.
“It gets to the middlemen and they now sell to farmers even at prices higher than what is obtainable in the market.
“They will buy at 75 naira and bring it in and sell for 78 naira; and on the sack you have `released from the national grain reserve, not for sale.’’
The scientist, however, urged the Federal Government to ensure transparency in the distribution and implementation of future interventions to farmers to prevent diversion.
“If they can release to ministry of agriculture within each state and give farmers token to collect so that what accrue to farmers would just be the cost of transportation.
“That would go a long way. But releasing it to private individuals to distribute attracts more cost and do not have the mitigating effect that is desired.’’
(NAN)
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