Dr. Olusegun Adedayo, Chairman of PANLAG, made the appeal on
Saturday at the association’s End of the Year Party/Stakeholders’ Meeting in
Badagry.
Adedayo said that local poultry farmers were suffering from
the impact of maize exportation, in spite of the fact that the local production
could not meet the farmers’ demands.
“Government should encourage more production of maize and
soya beans locally because this is what constitutes most of the ingredients for
chicken’s feed.
“But, unfortunately, we heard that they are exporting maize,
irrespective of the fact that they have not met the local demands.
“We implore the government to allow the importation of maize
and ban its exportation so that our chicken can have enough food to eat.
“Many farmers have closed their farms due to this challenge
because they are no longer making any profit,” he said.
The chairman also said that apart from the feeds, poultry
farmers were still facing the challenge of vaccination, noting that its cost
was another issue.
“The price of a day-old chick keeps increasing in the
hatchery; more and more farmers are moving out of business because the input
cost outweighs the profits.
“We are appealing to the Federal Government to intervene and
save our business from collapsing,” he said.