By Chinyere Anyanwu
The Rivers State chapter of Farmers Association of Nigeria (FAN) has advised its members, especially poultry and livestock farmers, to brace up for new diseases ravaging the sector in the rainy season.
The Public Relations Officer of the association, Ibim Daminabo, who gave the advice said poultry farmers need to be proactive in tackling the arian disease called newcastle disease.
Daminabo advised farmers to quickly engage livestock medical experts to safeguard their birds from the newcastle disease, which he said, is rampant during the rainy season.
“We will face diseases this rainy season such as newcastle disease because of the weather. If the weather is cold, it is easier to transmit the disease from one farm to another.
“In preventing such disease, farmers will need to buy more drugs. Even the crops too, you will see many pests at this period, so, farmers will spend more money in buying more spray for the farm,” he explained.
He also noted that the season is not favourable to poultry farmers due to the high cost of feed and logistics hitches.
Daminabo blamed the low supply of eggs and birds to customers across the state on the deplorable state of Nigerian roads caused by incessant rainfalls.
According to him, “the challenges we are facing is how to bring out our farm products and also bring in feed during this rainy season.
“It has been a challenge because of the bad road. On my farm, I have over 500 crates of eggs but customers cannot come in to buy these eggs and even if they come, taking them out is difficult, because the areas where the farms are located are where people are not staying.”
He called for government assistance to subsidise feeds, saying, “cost of feed is a challenge. Everyday the price is on the increase. We have eggs but we cannot get buyers because customers will give you the condition to supply them before they buy.”