Poor market, low egg production hit Plateau

The Avian Influenza scourge has led to the killing of over one million birds and the resultant hasty selling of the birds for as low as N500 by farmers in Jos for fearing that the birds might be infected, Daily Trust has learnt. Plateau State is considered one of the hubs of poultry farming and […]

The Avian Influenza scourge has led to the killing of over one million birds and the resultant hasty selling of the birds for as low as N500 by farmers in Jos for fearing that the birds might be infected, Daily Trust has learnt.
Plateau State is considered one of the hubs of poultry farming and egg business in the country.
Unfortunately, the farmers’ challenges have been worsened by the lack of payment of compensation to them by the government.
A visit by our correspondent, Monday, to Yankaji, the major market of birds and eggs in Jos, the state capital, however revealed that despite the low production of eggs and low prices, business still thrives, as usual.
When interviewed, the chairman of Yankaji Market, Sani Abdulaziz, said that both farmers and sellers of eggs in the state have experienced difficulties this year because of numerous bird diseases, especially bird flu, which, he said, has claimed over one million birds in the state.
Abdulaziz said that one of the major challenges of egg production is the decline in number of birds as many farmers in the state have killed their birds following the pledge by the federal ministry of agriculture to compensate the affected farmers.
He said it was unfortunate that up till now, the farmers were not compensated.
“If the ministry has supported the affected farmers, the challenge of shortage of birds would have been addressed,” he said. 
Abdulaziz said that customers come from all North-eastern states and some North-central states, including Abuja, to buy eggs in Jos, adding: “During the bird flu in the state some months ago, most of our customers’ boycotted Jos eggs and the market stagnated. 
“When our customers observed that thousands of birds are being killed in Plateau, they decided to look for alternative sources of eggs and they turned to Sambawa Farm in Kaduna, others moved to Adamawa and Ibadan as they cannot depend on Plateau due to shortage of birds. The attitude of some farmers whose farms were not affected by the bird flu in selling their eggs at exorbitant prices also contributed in changing the minds of customers and this drove them away from the state.
“When the business was flourishing in Jos, every day we would sell 10,000 to 15,000 crates. The outbreak has affected the prices of eggs in Jos. Currently the price of one crate of egg is N600. Before the outbreak of bird flu a crate of egg was sold at N570 to N600.
“During the scourge, it was N500 and after the disease the prices rose to between N720 and N750 per crate. The rise of price of eggs has negatively affected its market in Jos, because many of our customers went to other states where they got the eggs at cheaper prices.
“Another challenge that is affecting the business is the hot weather now being experienced in Jos as egg business goes with weather. There is also the lack of rain in the state and the neighbouring states. Whenever the weather is hot, the market becomes slow as many people don’t patronise the commodity.”
Abdulaziz appealed to the farmers in the state whose farms are affected to desist from inflating the prices of eggs, saying that doing so will scare away buyers.
He called on the federal ministry of agriculture to assist the farmers affected by the bird flu disease.
Anther egg dealer in Jos, Alhaji Sani Bala, attributed the egg glut to austere economic conditions of people.
Bala said that workers in many states complain of their inadequate salaries, pointing out that many people want to use eggs, but they don’t have money to buy.
“These and other factors are the reasons for the poor market of eggs in Jos,” Bala said.
When contacted, Plateau State Chairman of Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), John Dasar, asked our reporter to give him time to comment on the situation, he could not be reached again up to the time of filing this report on Monday night.