POULTRY farmers in Oyo State, under the aegis of the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), have lamented the negative effect some government policies are having on their businesses, stressing that this development is causing them to lose trillions of Naira annually.
The farmers noted particularly that the increasing price of inputs, multiple levy and taxation by the agents of government have affected production of their farm products.
Another factor affecting the businesses according to the farmers is the banning of forex for importation of maize which is the only essential grain available for feed production.
Officials of PAN who represented the farmers while they thronged the Iyaganku, Ibadan secretariat of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), though with strict compliance to COVID-19 protocol to register their displeasure over the development, further said agencies and individuals in the name of the Local and State Government agencies are making daily trips to poultry farms to harrass farmers for several illicit and other arrears of levies and taxes.
The association during a press conference adrresed by its state chairman, Mr. Gbemisoye Agboola, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to relax the ban on forex for 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 grassroots farmers.
Speaking on how the association was affected by the poor policies of the government, Agboola said: “As we speak, agencies and individuals in the name of the Local and State Government agencies are making daily trips to poultry farms to harrass farms for several illicit and other arrears of levies, taxes etc. We know every government supports agriculture globally for obvious reasons but not so in our own Oyo State.
“The COVID-19 lockdown has sent several farms to early grave and some poultry are already on the verge of collapse. The price of maize which was N80/kg in March 2020 has crept to N180/kg today and is still increasing. That cannot be said of the price of poultry products. As if that is not enough, we now have the ban on importation of maize.
“Maize constitutes between 50 per cent to 70 per cent of chicken feeds. It is the cardinal input of poultry business. Due to high demands for maize by humans, there has been an unhealthy competition for this all important staple food. 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 going in the industry.”
Speaking on the implication of the poor policies, he said: “Between March and July this year many poultry farms have either downsized or folded up because they either cannot get maize to produce feeds or cannot afford to buy finished feeds to feed their chickens.
“The seeming proactiveness of the Federal Government was the release of few tonnage of maize to states. We read about the much publicised release of trailers of maize to Lagos State poultry farmers, we are still expecting those meant to cushion our hardship in Oyo State. However, it must have gone the usual route to office poultry farmers.”
He, therefore, appealed to the Federal Government to relax the ban on importation of maize and ensure paliatives are given to the farmers to cohesion hunger in the country.
He said: “Poultry farmers in Oyo State are using this opportunity to call on Mr. President to relax the ban on forex for importation of maize for a period, to use this time to release the grain reserves across the country and to release all available palliatives to cushion the effect of maize scarcity to teeming suffering grassroot farmers. This is to allow this essential grain to be available for feed production while we increase local production to meet up with the demand of maize.
“This appears to be the only way out and the most assuring pivot that the government is serious in revamping agriculture in this country. We know that some individuals are feeding the presidency and state government with false information that the country has enough maize as of now to satisfy the demand of both human and livestock, but the present hardship has proven this wrong.”
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