Today… Poultry contributes 107m tonnes to world meat production, says V-C

Ambali, who is a professor of veterinary medicine, made reference to the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), stating that poultry meat products would expand by 2.3 percent every year, attaining annual output of 134.5 tonnes worldwide by 2023.He said: “This is huge and we can all imagine […]

Ambali, who is a professor of veterinary medicine, made reference to the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), stating that poultry meat products would expand by 2.3 percent every year, attaining annual output of 134.5 tonnes worldwide by 2023.
He said: “This is huge and we can all imagine a household where there are no eggs, chicken, turkey and other poultry meat products in the menu for a day or a week.”
Speaking at the 5th Nigeria International Poultry Summit of World Poultry Science Association (WPSA) held at the University of Ilorin, Ambali challenged experts on the challenges confronting meat production, saying: “In order to advance poultry production, both now and later, experts like you will have to devote more academic attention to the dynamics of, and challenges posed by, biosecurity and molecular biology, organic products, advancing early growth and profitability, gut microbiome and health as well as locally adapted highly productive breeds.
“Food is a critical component of a happy life and this is why the Yoruba say that when hunger is out of poverty, poverty becomes nil. We can then appreciate a situation where one does not just but eat highly nutritious food as those obtained poultry and poultry products.”
He said Unilorin would continue to build capacity in poultry and other agricultural products, adding: “Nigeria has no business importing basic agricultural products, poultry inclusive, if we were to get our bearing right and this is why we take research in these areas seriously”.
The President of WPSA, Professor Edir Silva, said effective collaboration between governments and stakeholders, globally, was important to poultry growth.
He said: “Collective efforts and constant interfacing amongst poultry sectoral players and government would enable them to grow the sub-sector to an enviable height and also tackle, headlong, any challenge ahead just as it tackled the scourge of Avian Influenza that ravaged the poultry industries across the globe.”
He said that modern poultry practice, science and technology interwoven, adding that the industry cannot afford to be left behind in the area of research and development.
While harping on the need to imbibe bio-security as the globally accepted standard of prevention and control, he charged the players in the industry to be pro-active in all their dealings.
President, Nigeria branch of WPSA, Professor Adeyinka Odunsi, reiterated that the goal of the association was to promote education, research and industrial relation in the entire poultry value chain.
According to him, the choice of the theme: “Innovations for Poultry Production and Good Health”, is a deliberate attempt to afford the participants the opportunity to examine the poultry industry, focusing on innovations, nutrition, reproduction management, disease and health related issues.