The Ogun State chapter of the Poultry Association of Nigeria Ogun (PANOG) on Thursday, stated that efforts by the governments at all levels to guarantee food security may remain futile except they demonstrate genuine commitment in mechanised farming to boost food production.
Ogun PAN also implored governments to stop wasting money on frivolities like purchasing Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) in the year 2025, but prioritise genuine commitment at boosting food production through mechanised farming.
PANOG chairman in the state, Alhaji Yinka Lawal stated these while speaking with journalists at the state secretariat of the association in Abeokuta, shortly after emerging from the maiden State Executive Committee (SEC) meeting that ushered him in as the new chairman for year 2025 till 2028.
Lamenting the unabated harassment and kidnapping of farmers on their farms, Lawal also appealed to government and appropriate agencies to do more in the area of security so as to encourage farmers to remain in the farm.
The new PAN state chairman in Ogun however, blamed the high cost of poultry products experienced during the just concluded yuletide season, particularly the chicken, on the emergence of the “backyard farmers”, who produced at high cost and were “too desperate” to recoup profits from amount invested in poultry farming under short periods.
“The truth is that these backyard poultry farmers produce at a very high cost and wanted to sell their birds at higher costs that would bring quick profits. Ordinarily, a chicken was not supposed to sell beyond N12, 000 and N15, 000 maximum as against the price of N30, 000 we had in December.
“We are part of the food security stakeholders in this country and we are appealing to these backyard farmers to join our association to enable them avail themselves with necessary information about poultry farming”.
He explained that most of the seasonal and backyard poultry farmers usually produce at a very high cost whereas, the cost at which they produce would have been very minimal if they had joined the association.
“As members of the poultry association, there are some benefits that we enjoy, we can decide to buy our feeds in bulk and then sell at a cheaper price to our members than what is obtainable in the market. We have lots of information that can help cut down on our cost of production which nonmembers do not have,” he noted.
As a panacea towards avoiding future occurrence of the arbitrary price inflation of poultry products, Lawal said his association was planning a 4-centre market hub where the people of the state can purchase poultry products at controlled prices without injuries to their budgets.
He also appealed to state governments throughout the country to ban and penalise roadside sales of poultry products, as well as those he described as political farmers, who usually seize the advantage of their closeness to governments to divert agriculture policies to their favour.