The Lagos State Chapter of the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), has warned that the nations poultry industry would collapse if urgent steps are not taken by the federal and state governments to protect the sector.

The association also faulted the 200 per cent charged by importers of maize in the country and urged the federal government to grant its members licenses to import maize and soya in order to reduce the cost of poultry products and end the monopoly of existing importers of the commodity.

The PAN expressed concerns that the availability and prices of maize, soya and wheat, which are the major components of feed in the industry have gone to the extreme, pointing out that production of eggs and other poultry products is at risk in the country.

The Chairman of Lagos Chapter of PAN, Mr. Iyiola Mojeed, said that the issue of egg glut has come to stay on a permanent basis.

Maize can be produced all year round in Nigeria. The ledger chunk of the maize used in our industry is sourced from the northern part of the country and as we all know, the issue of banditry has driven most of the farmers away from their farms, many of them have relocated to other regions and engage in other economic activities like many seen in Lagos riding Okada this is seriously affecting the industry.

So we are crying to governments at local, state and federal levels to protect this industry from total collapse because if the problems we are facing now are not addressed immediately, it could lead to the total collapse of the industry, Mojeed lamented.

He said that the collapse of the sector would have a profound negative impact on human lives in Nigeria. In developed countries the wellbeing of poultry farmers are not taken for granted, their governments do all they could do to assist the industry but in Nigeria the reverse is the case. So we are appealing to the government to come to our help considering the importance of our industry, he said.

According to him, the association is proposing a stopgap solution to address this problem and prevent total collapse of the industry, because the business is no longer profitable.

About 30 to 40 per cent of big poultry farmers in Lagos State have closed down their farms because they make losses on daily basis. We cannot overemphasise the importance of our industry because our presence affects virtually every human life, starting from the faetus, male and female old and young.

We are calling upon the government to please help in the insurance of soya and other ingredients that will make us have cheaper products so we can produce well to the whole citizenry. It is also sad that a lot of jobs are being lost. As I tell you now, so many farms are widely closed. Many are still closing, and many want to close because they cannot meet up. Imagine the price of a crate of egg being sold at N2000 to N3000 that is way below production cost, he stressed.

He called on the federal government to assist in protecting farmers from violence and insecurity. (THISDAY)