Our Reporter
Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) has called for the establishment of hatcheries across the country to reduce the risk of conveying day old chicks from one destination to the other.
Its President, Mr Ezekiel Ibrahim, who spoke in an interview on Tuesday in Abuja, frowned at the concentration of hatcheries in a particular zone in the country.
He noted that hatcheries were mostly concentrated in the South-west zone, and described it as a major contributor to the high cost of day old chick and a major challenge in the poultry industry.
“The major challenge in poultry industry is that hatcheries in Nigeria are concentrated in a particular zone to be precise south west. So, conveying day old chicks to the north, Southeast takes you 36 to 48 hours which put the day old under serious stress.
“So as PAN, we are talking with the major hatcheries if they can now build some hatcheries in hinterlands in different zones so that they can produce eggs in their region.
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“Then when it comes to hatching they can hatch within that locality and will be easier for the birds to move to farms within a short period and that will greatly reduce the losses that could occur as a result of long journey.
“Because when they are stressed, you discover farmers or some people that are not used to managing them lose large per cent of day old chicks and that will affect their profit.
“Generally, it contributes to the cost of purchase of day old chick which ranges from N300 to N400 as the case may be,” he said.
Ibrahim said the association was liaising with hatcheries companies in order to extend the industry to other parts of the country.
According to him, such measures will ensure a stable price and the farmers can plan and make maximum profit.
“We are greatly disturbed with the fluctuation in the prices of day old chicks and we are working with the system as an organisation to see how we can overcome it.
“We are working to ensure the cost of capital is reduced so that people who are wishing to expand can expand, when we reduce the challenge on logistics it will greatly help,” he said.
Ibrahim, who identified poultry products as contributing to about 30 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the agricultural sector, said it should be accorded the needed attention to effectively boost the economy and create massive job.
The president therefore called for investment in raising point of lay birds, saying that the measure would be beneficial to farmers that lacked the knowledge of raising the birds from day old to point of lay.
According to him, this will further help to produce a lot of point of lay, boost local production of chicken, generate employment and wealth creation.
He urged the government and private entities to invest in storage and slaughter houses, adding “if you do not have slaughters and storage facilities, poultry produce will continue to eat and die, which is a great lost to the farmers.
“If after 10 weeks, a broiler dies, it is investment lost, so we need to invest in cold room storage.”
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