At world veterinary day, farmers cry out on egg glut
By Sade Oguntola
Dr. Abba Ruma, Agric Minister
THE persistent egg glut poultry farmers are facing has been described as
an artificial one created by a gap between ensuring that what is produced gets to egg consumers.
Dr. Olatunde Agbato, President, Animal Care Services Konsult declared this at the occasion of the 2008 World Veterinary Day celebration organised by the company at its premises at Ogere Remo Ogun State.
He said from a study of the situation, it was evident that while egg consumers continue to find getting it to buy hard because of unavailability, the farmers mainwhile had surplus of eggs in their store houses with nobody coming to pack them away.
According to him,“When you talk of egg glut and you consider the population of Nigeria, we should not have any glut. There is a big disconnection. So we need to find the missing link.”
Meanwhile, Dr. Agbato traced part of the egg glut problem to the knowledge gap in the practices of poultry industries. “As farmers and agric business operators, we must place the correct premium on knowledge. If our businesses are knowledge drives, they are more likely to succeed.”
He emphasised that all poultry farmers will need to put more emphasises on promoting egg consumption, get more involved in knowing where the eggs they produced are sold to and jointly promote a united egg price for egg sales every week.
In a goodwill message at the occasion by Mr. Jide Olaniyan, President, Poultry Association of Nigerian, Ogun State chapter, the current egg glut is the most severe one since 1996.
He however assured farmers that Poultry Association of Nigeria intends to develop a blue print on how to ensure farmers in subsequent years do not experience the problem.
“We believe if the fundamental problems are identified and tackled egg glut will be a foregone issue. Even if it occurs, the effect will not be as bitting as it is now,” he stated. “Much as the problem of middle men could be said to be contributing to the egg glut problem in that they buy at about between N300 and N350 and sell at very high prices, but we in conjunction with other stakeholders like the veterinarians will look at the problem and proffer both short and long term solutions.”, he assured.
Meanwhile, Dr. Kayode Awosanya, President, Nigerian Veterinary Medical Association, Ogun State assured of the cooperation of the association in putting a final stop to the yearly egg glut problem.
He warned farmers against self-medicating their birds, declaring that a lot of times, this does not help the problem they have with their flocks. He said this will rather compound it and so contribute to a decline in production.
Papers were delivered at the occasion by experts on the role of veterinarians in the promotion of animal and human welfare. Dr. Peter Lazarus, Deputy General Manager, Animal Health and Nutrition, Animal Care Services Konsult speaking on the role of veterinarian in the promotion of poultry production said given that there are more people now investing into poultry business, if it is not properly done under the eyes of animal expert, such as the veterinarian, it may end up in a loss.
“Lots of people are investing money into poultry farms now and if it is not properly done, it ends up creating both long and short term problems. This is where a veterinarian comes in. They should advise farmers on proper setting of their infrastructures, feed materials, need to ensure biosecurity and proper marketing of their products.
“For instance, many farmers have this propaganda of a bag of feed is sufficient for 240 birds in a day. It is technical incorrect and it has no technical or scientific basis. The amount of feed to give is dependent on the species of bird and so except they are properly guided, they may make many mistakes,”he stated.
The role of a veterinarian in the promotion of Agriculture according to Dr. Dotun Oladele, an expert in aquaculture, is a great one too. He said that their interventions in various aspects of agriculture such as in ensuring good quality of water and feed, proper sorting and adjustment of stocking density goes a long to ensure a successful fish farm.
According to him, “as veterinarians, we ensure a good microbial quality of fish Iarva after hatching by screening them at day old for microorganism that could be a reason for dying in the first 10 days of life and based in this advise farmers appropriately on what to do. In cases where they are buying their stock from various places, they are told how to isolate them and treat them for any infection before using them for breeding purposes, if that tis what they are meant for.”
Given that a water sample that is acidic, soft or having high levels of ammonia, iron and nitrite cannot support aquaculture production for optimum result, he said; as veterinarians onus is on them to help farmers know and ensure good quality water in their fish tanks.
While farmers need to careful in their choice of land that is suitable for a fish pond, he said, also of importance too is the quality of feed given.
Meanwhile, he cautioned farmers buying their fingerlings from just any hatchery. He said,“Our experience with some cat fish hatchery operators show they do not fake biosecurity to be a serious issue. All were not using disinfectants in their catfish hatchery.
In a paper by Dr. Olutayo Babalobi, a consultant epizootiologist from the Department of Veterinary Public Health and Preventive medicine, University of Ibadan on the Diversity of the Veterinary Profession: The Public Health role of Veterianians, he declared that the profession provides a link between agriculture and human medicine and could help resolve the many health problems currently facing mankind and human medicine.
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