Poultry association outlines 10-yr poultry prospects

The Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) has outlined a 10-year poultry future for the country, with a possible collection of eggs from manual process changing to mechanical process before year 2023. In the report at the 2015 Nigeria Poultry Show held in Abeokuta, Ogun State, PAN however, expressed fear over what it termed “growing depletions” […]

The Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) has outlined a 10-year poultry future for the country, with a possible collection of eggs from manual process changing to mechanical process before year 2023.
In the report at the 2015 Nigeria Poultry Show held in Abeokuta, Ogun State, PAN however, expressed fear over what it termed “growing depletions” to the layer industry, with biosecurity measures expected to play critical role in its survival.
The report, entitled ‘Nigerian Poultry: Future Scenario 2013-2023’, also took a look at the global situation in the poultry industry and past projection (2000-2010) report of the country’s situation, with a remark that “the projection was ultimately achieved by the end of 2010 in spite of the steep fall in performance during the bird flu years.
“The recovery has been phenomenal during 2009-2010. There was a drop in production by 10% in 2012. The broiler parent and layer parent placements are going up steadily,” the report noted.
Starting from the layers units, PAN noted that they “are becoming bigger. The minimum size is 10,000 and many units are expanding from 100,000 to 500,000 layers. The number of eggs produced by a hen has been going up. There are farms producing over 310 eggs (hen housed) in the production cycle.”
The report stated that in the next 3-4 years, other farms would begin to copy the use of “chicks feed and broiler rations in the form of crumbles for a better start,” which organised farms are presently using.
“Automation in feeding and egg collection is catching up. This is reducing the contamination levels through the feed bags. Manure disposal and fly control need attention. Bigger flocks on a farm and the pollution issues will initiate factory-type closed and controlled houses in the next decade. The eggs are still being sold in numbers. The smaller eggs (pullet eggs) are being discounted. The industry may change to weight consciousness and start grading.
“Egg numbers, breakages and shell strength is becoming more important in choosing the breed of pullets and in designing the feed formulations. These issues will become more important as mechanical collection takes over manual collections.”
The report pointed out that designer eggs are catching up and equally eggs enriched with Vitamin E, selenium and Omega -3 fatty acids are being produced and marketed. But, “cleaning and packing of eggs is not being done in Nigeria yet.
“Also, projections were made on broilers, integration feed, marketing (live birds and branded chicken), with estimation that with the human population crossing the 200 million mark by 2020, the demand for low priced foods will be appreciated for many years.”
PAN promised to create five million jobs and unlock a N1 trillion industry if provided with the right environment and support by government.
It also assured that against the backdrop of federal government ban on importation of farm produce, poultry farmers in the country have the capacity to feed the nation, insisting that government should encourage them to achieve the feat.
National president of the association, Dr Ayoola Oduntan, explained that the theme for this year’s fair, “Poultry Value Chain- Unlocking One Trillion Naira Industry and Five Million Jobs” had become necessary in order to show the determination and commitment of the body to the seriousness of agriculture as a potential sector that could solve the nation’s economic problems.