The Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), has called for the establishment of hatcheries in each geopolitical zones of Nigeria to check the rising cost of day-old chicks.
Mr Hakeem Musa, Secretary, PAN, FCT Chapter, made the call in an interview on Tuesday in Abuja.
Musa, while reacting to the current hike in prices of day-old chicks, attributed the hike to forces of demand and supply.
According to him, it is normal that when the demand for any commodity is high, there is every tendency that the prices of such product will witness a remarkable increase.
Musa who also blamed the hike on logistics problem, said that 80 percent to 90 percent of the day-old chicks consumed in the north were produced in Ibadan, Oyo state.
He said that the high cost in conveying those chicks also affected the cost of the commodity.
The price of a broiler as at the last week of December 2023 which was about N300 and N400 irrespective of the product, had risen to N800 and N900 currently.
He called for more collaboration between poultry farmers across the states of the federation, as well as the Federal and State governments to set up hatcheries in each geopolitical zones of Nigeria.
Musa said that such collaborations would likely meet the high demand for day-old chicks.
He said that such initiative would also ensure drastic reduction in cost of the products, boost farmers production capacity and meet the nation’s long term nutritional needs.
“Hike in cost of a day old chick is natural between December and January, so when demand is high the price of commodity will be high.
“So it is the law of demand and supply that is responsible for the hike in prices of day old chicks.
“We need government intervention by way of grant and collaboration with the association at zonal levels to set up hatcheries.
“We believe if a day old chick is produced very close to our zone we can easily access it and the price will reduce drastically,” he said.
James Okafor, a poultry farmer who frowned at the hike, said it was a deliberate measure by hatchery industries to frustrate farmers.
He urged farmers to resist the hike and encourage uniform and fixed price seasonally and out-of-season.
