Mr Musa Bala, Chairman of Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), Kaduna State chapter, says bird Flu and insecurity are the major threats to poultry farming in the state.
Bala made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Kaduna.
He said the spate of insecurity in the state had forced farmers to abandon their farms for the safety of their lives.
“Many of the farmers have fled their farms due to insecurity because most of the farms are located on the outskirts of towns.
“Some farmers are, however, still taking the risk of going to their farms due to bank loans they had invested in the business”, Bala said.
He said that the association was in constant contact with security agencies to ensure that those still going to their farms were protected.
On bird flu, Bala said the state government through the Ministry of Agriculture had alerted the association on possible outbreak of the flu.
The chairman also said that the government had been providing bio security equipment and spray to farmers, to disinfect their farms
Bala said the situation had affected the prices of feeds and other poultry products in markets across the state.
“There is a high demand of poultry products but very few are being produced for the fear of bird flu and insecurity ” he said.
Bala therefore called on the government to assist farmers to ensure food availability.
Meanwhile, the Desk Officer, Avian Influenza at the State Ministry of Agriculture, Dr Abel Williams, said so far, more than 5,300 birds had been affected since the outbreak of the Influenza in the state.
He said 1,500 birds were killed in a farm in Sabon Gari Local Government Area, 2,000 in Trikania, Chikun LGA and 1,800 killed in a farm in Tafa, Kagarko LGA of the state.
According to him, since the bird flu outbreak on March 1, the state ministry of agriculture, in collaboration with the poultry farmers association had provided various support to the farmers.
Williams said the ministry had provided motorized sprayers, disinfectants among other interventions to prevent the spread of the disease to other farms.
He said the ministry had also sensitised farmers on bio security measures in an effort to curtail spread of the flu.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Kaduna state has 197 registered poultry farmers out of an estimated 500 farmers.
