The Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) Lagos chapter, said it was ready to take measures to elicit the government’s intervention in the sector.

The PAN Lagos chapter Chairman, Mr Mojeed Iyiola, said this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos.

He said the poultry sector was experiencing trying times as they expected the government’s palliatives to start rolling in, to cushion the effects.

“Presently we are yet to receive any palliatives from the Federal Government, we are still hopeful as we expect to hear from them soon.

“We have been trying to reach both the state and several ministries of agriculture on several occasions to come to our aid in the sector.

“So as an association, we intend to organise a rally, so that government can know that we need prompt intervention in the poultry sector.

It is a soft appeal for quick intervention of the government on the poultry sector as so many farmers have closed up their farms,” chairman told NAN.

Iyiola also appealed to the Federal Government to grant poultry farmers access to import maize as the importers are crippling the activities of the sector.

“Most local feed millers and poultry farmers have folded up. The cost of feeding keeps increasing on daily basis.

“We appeal to the government to come to our aid, to allow the importation of maize by poultry farmers through our association.

“ We want to import our own maize and not buy from the traders/importers, because they are ripping us of and are not considerate, they rather see us as competitors.

‘When maize dealers eventually import it, they sell it at their own convenience and at a rate that will not be affordable to the farmers, they have monopoly over the sector.

‘The price of poultry feeds keep changing everyday. Last week we bought a bag of layers feed for N10,000 but currently it sells for as high as N12,000 .

“The price of raw materials for poultry feeds is on the increase on a daily basis. This continuous price hike has kept poultry farmers in difficult times with many trying to break even.

“We are just trying to get by everyday, maize and soya is not easy to access, It is giving us problems,” Iyiola said.

According to him, “Wheat which is an alternative that could be used, is even more expensive than the maize and you cannot compare the performance of wheat to maize.

“The energy level of maize is far higher than that of wheat. If we make use of 1kg of maize in feed preparation, then you need almost 2kg of wheat with some additional soya to get the desired results.

“This in turn makes our cost of production to go higher,” he said.