High feed costs hit pig farmers

There have been concerns among stakeholders as pig producers battle high feed prices.

Speaking with The Nation, Managing Director, PigFan Nigeria Limited, Femi Malomo said the cost of feeding a pig to maturity has grown from between N15,000 and N30,000 to N50,000 to N90,000.

He said pig farmers battle rising feed and others, which the selling prices could not fully partly compensate for these costs.

According to him, some farmers are quitting the industry due to the soaring costs of production.

He noted that the industry has experienced a long period of losses as production costs soar. Also, costs are expected to climb further in the coming days to reflect the economic situation with inflationary pressures translating into unmanageable costs for many pig farmers.

He called for government’s action to save the pig industry as feed price places under unsustainable strain. Maize is one of the key components of livestock feed.

Some farmers in the maize belt in the North have been forced off their farms due to attacks by Islamist insurgents and gunmen who kidnap people for ransom.

Several pig farmers are using cassava waste instead of maize following high prices. Pigs feed on broken and maize bran mixed with other feeds.

Like pig farmers, poultry farms are currently shutting down operations due to the persistent hike in the price of maize .

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Based on this, the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) stated that the poultry subsector was heading for a crash if the government failed to salvage the industry.

The association said: “At the moment, the poultry industry in Nigeria is on the verge of total collapse if urgent intervention is not channelled to it without further delay.

“We are aware that the government has declared a state of emergency on the food security situation of the country, but the situation of the poultry industry calls for an urgent intervention to save the industry from total collapse.”

PAN’s National President, Sunday Ezeobiora, and Director-General, Onallo Akpa, stated that there had been an upward surge in the cost of maize, forcing farmers to shut down their operations.

They said: “The high surge in the price of maize and the near absence or scarcity of the product is causing farmers to close down their poultry farms at the moment because it is no longer sustainable to feed the birds and be in business.

“This is threatening the further development of the Nigerian poultry industry. The price of maize has increased from over N200, 000 per tonne to N600, 000.