Oyo State poultry farmers, under the aegis of the Poultry Farmers Association of Nigeria, have urged the Federal Government to lift the ban on importation of maize so as to prevent disaster against poultry business in the country.
According to them, the ban on importation of maize has drawn the country to a dangerous precipice where about a trillion naira is lost annually in the farming business.
The Chairman, Poultry Farmers Association of Nigeria in the state, Mr Gbemisoye Agboola, at a press conference, on Tuesday, said maize constitutes between 50 to 70per cent of items used for chicken feeds.
Noting that agriculture provides essential raw materials for industrial growth and development, Agboola said, “The problems of insecurity and flooding has made it impossible for farmers to go to the farm.
“The few tonnage of maize has been hijacked and cornered by speculators, opportunists and political jobbers who also think it is their birthright to dictate the goings in the industry.
“Between March and July this year, many poultry farms have either down sized or folded up because they either cannot get maize to produce feeds or cannot afford to buy finished feeds to feed their chicken.
“The seeming pro-activeness of the Federal Government was the release of few tonnage of maize to states. We read about the much publicized release of trailers of maize to Lagos State poultry farmers; we are still expecting those meant to cushion our hardship in Oyo State.
“We are calling on Mr. President to relax the ban on importation of maize for a period in order to use this time to release the grain reserved across the country and to release all available palliatives to cushion the effect of maize scarcity to teeming suffering grass root farmers.
“This will allow this essential grain to be available for feed production while we increase local production to meet up with the demand of maize, because this appears as the only way out and the most assuring pivot that the government is serious in revamping agriculture in this country.
“Poultry contributes immensely to the GDP of the states. Oyo State prides herself as the poultry hub of South-West and Nigeria. Despite many besetting waters and industry turbulence, poultry has established itself in Oyo State and from there blessed many states in Nigeria, especially in day-old-chicks and eggs production.”
The former General Secretary, Poultry Association of Nigeria, Oyo State, Dr Segun Makanjuola, who lamented the huge volume of money being lost to bad agricultural policies in the land, said, “About 25million Nigerians are employed by poultry farming. Something urgent has to be done to rescue the industry from collapse.
“During the COVID-19, we lost so much. Eggs got wasted; we buried so many eggs.”
The Chairman, Day Old Cheeks Merchant, Oyo State, Alhaji Asimiyu Oyetunde, said, “The ban on importation of maize is ill-timed. If we don’t have maize and there is opportunity to import just to salvage the collapsing industry, so be it.”
