Some poultry farmers in Abakaliki have decried the continued rise in the price of feeds in the market.
They feared that the trend could lead to low productivity, shortage of poultry products and dwindling fortunes for dealers.
They appealed to the state and federal governments and other relevant agencies to take urgent steps to reverse the situation before it would get out of hand.
The people spoke in separate interviews in Abakaliki.
A poultry farmer, Mr Andy Nwaogbaga, expressed worry over the development.
Nwaogbaga said that it had affected the poultry business in the area negatively.
He said that currently, 25kg of feeds sells at between N9,500 and N9,800, depending on the brand, as against N6, 000 in September.
He also expressed concern that a day-old chick, which sold for N500 in September, now goes for about N890.
Another farmer, Ogbonna Agbo, said that in addition to the high cost of feeds, some birds die during brooding.
“This development makes it double jeopardy for us,” Agbo said.
Also, Mrs Chinwe Nomeh, urged government to intervene urgently to bring down the prices of feeds to boost production and availability of poultry products.
Mrs Stella Ebenyi said that dealers in poultry products might be compelled to quit the business, should the situation continue unabated.
Ebenyi opined that should that happen, there would be acute scarcity of eggs, which serves as a major source of protein.
“We want the Federal Government to do something fast to avert the impending scarcity by subsidising the price of feeds,” she said.
Also, some residents said the high cost of feeds was already impacting the price of eggs in the market.
According to Mercy Aroh, many families can no longer afford to buy egg for their children, especially now that schools had reopened.
Aroh said that a crate of egg sells for between N2,800 and N 3,300, depending on the size, as against N1,700 and N1,800 a few months ago.
“There is a need for governments’ urgent intervention to bring down the prices of food items in the country.
Mrs Deborah Andrew also said that the high cost of feeds had direct impact on the market prices of chicken and eggs.
A feed dealer, Mrs Chisom Madu, said that prices of feeds usually go up toward the last quarter of the year.
“The hike is seasonal. It usually happens when many people go into brooding of chicken for the Yuletide celebration,” Madu said.
