NaijaAgroNet:
Poultry
farmers in Plateau State are calling for government’s help to compensate them
for the loss of birds and sales following recent avian influenza outbreaks,
reports NaijaAgroNet.
Poultry farmers in Plateau State say
that bird flu remains a serious threat to the nation’s economy and called on
the Federal Government to tackle it, reports NaijaAgroNet.
The farmers also called on
government and other relevant authorities to expedite action on the payment of
compensation to those whose farms were quarantined. Alhaji Moshood Okanlawon,
one of the poultry farmers, told NaijaAgroNet in Jos, Plateau State that the
disease, which ravaged poultry farms recently, had resulted in unemployment.
Mr Okanlawon explained that the
negative economic implications of bird flu on the nation’s economy had a wider
impact on the lucrative poultry business.
Another farmer, Rebecca Okafor, NaijaAgroNet gathered said she had been into poultry farming in the last
18 years, describing it as a very “good business”. She said poultry farming has
tremendous economic importance, adding that the avian influenza had destroyed
the business. She explained that more than 700 of her birds were infected by
the disease and her farm was quarantined.
“More than 75 crates of eggs and
chickens being produced weekly had stopped and I cannot supply manure to local
farmers,” she said.
Similarly, Alhaji Abdulazeez
Qamarudeen said over 3,650 of his birds were infected with bird flu. He called
on government to compensate farmers that were affected, saying poultry farming
contributes largely to the GDP of the country due to generation of employment
and business opportunities.
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