Moves to boost poultry, piggery production
Three products to boost poultry and piggery production in the country and add value to the animal feed industry have been introduced into the country.
The introduction of the products is expected to discourage the importation of foreign feed.
Varium, neoprime and poultry guard launched in Accra last Friday are said to give pigs and poultry the strength to resist diseases and other conditions that affect their growth and development.
Product benefits
While varium promotes growth equivalent to antibiotics by reducing the level of intestinal harmful bio toxins in birds, the neoprime improves feed conversion and weight gain in pigs and the poultry guard reduces bacteria in poultry farms.
The launch, which had the theme: “New Dimension in Poultry and Pig Production”, brought together stakeholders in the feed industry from the Greater Accra, Western, Central and the Volta regions.
Opening the event, the Chief Executive Officer of Boris B’s Farms & Veterinary Supplies Ghana Limited (BBFVS), a key distributor of animal feed with speciality in poultry and piggery in West Africa, Mr Boris Baidoo, expressed concern over the importation of poultry products to the detriment of the local poultry industry.
Cut down importation
Underscoring the need to cut down on poultry importation to protect the livelihood of farmers and the poultry industry as a whole, Mr Baidoo asked the government to consider setting up processing plants in its one-district, one-factory policy to cater for the production of poultry for the local market.
He indicated that with the necessary support, the poultry sector had the potential to create thousands of jobs and cited the broiler sub-sector as an area that could create job opportunities for people.
Mr Baidoo urged the government to also factor the poultry industry in the ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’ programme to help produce enough poultry to feed the local market and cut down on poultry imports.
He decried the current state of the industry and disclosed that in 2014, Cabinet approved the release of more than GH¢39.5 million under the broiler revitalisation project, “but that money never got to the farmers to improve their lot.”
Mr Baidoo appealed to the current Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, to as a matter of necessity, look into that matter.
Products welcome
The Vice-President of the Ghana National Association of Poultry Farmers, Mr Napoleon Agyemang Oduro, welcomed the introduction of the new products for the feed industry and expressed the hope that it would boost poultry production in the country.
He regretted the low production of poultry in Ghana, submitting that every stage of the value chain faced challenges in terms of feed for which reason he lauded the BBFVS and the Amlan International, a US-based oil drilling company, for coming out with the products.
“We believe the new products will launch poultry production in the country into a new dimension. We have constantly built the capacity of our members to adapt to new technologies,” Mr Oduro said.
The Regional Manager in charge of Africa and Middle East of Amlan International, Dr Domir Ozdemir, who gave a presentation on the benefits of the poultry guard, said the product eliminates ammonia and bacterial level from the poultry farm.
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