Poultry farmers under the auspices of the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), Ogun state chapter, have appealed to the Federal Government to allow a structured window for the importation of some grains, including maize, soya beans, among other inputs, used as feeds for poultry production, to be imported via land borders and seaports, to beat 65 percent increase in the prices of poultry feeds.

The farmers said that the negative impacts of Coronavirus pandemic had also affected prices of maize, soya beans and sorghum which form over 55 percent of production cost in the poultry industry, saying the Government should not only open borders for classified imports such as essential grains for feeds production, but should also order release of grains from the national grain reserves, to cushion the effects of scarcity and help reduce skyrocketing prices of the inputs.

Blessing Alawode, PAN Chairperson in Ogun state, challenged the Ogun State Government to take a cue from their Lagos State Counterpart by subsidizing the cost of grains used to feed poultry birds. Alawode said that the subsidized prices of poultry feeds by the State Government is imperative, going by critical economic roles being played by poultry farmers, as well as their contributions to the nation’s GDP, adding that the poultry farmers should be allowed by the Central Bank of Nigeria to use debenture assets as collateral for promotional credit facilities instead of the Certificate of Occupancy requirements. Business Day