Poultry farmers in Jos have decried the hike in feeds and other consumables, thus sending many of them out of business.

Farmers, who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Jos on Sunday, said that because many of the farmers could not bear the rising cost of the feeds, they “are gradually opting out of business.’’

Okopi Sule, a poultry farmer, said that input had become outrageously high and income from the business becoming extremely low.

“Many farmers could no longer break even in the business.

“We now buy feeds at the cost of N4,600 instead of N3,300 and medication for the birds is now very expensive,’’ said Mr. Sule.

Grace Eden, another poultry farmer, said that the high cost of feed and the recent bird flu had driven many farmers out of business.

“We are all trying to remain in business and not to completely fold up.

“We are just selling out the birds to get back what we had invested in the business,’’ Mrs. Eden lamented.

In his own remarks, Mike Uche said that customer’s purchasing power had dropped in the country and very few families could afford chicken and egg.

“Many people now eat fish instead of chicken and very few people now buy eggs,’’ Mr. Uche said.

Ene John, who also rear birds, said that she was unable to feed her birds properly and as such, she had sold most of them out to feed the few ones left.

Nanji Gambo, the Public Relations Officer of the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), Plateau Chapter, lamented that many members of the association have invested so much and that such investments are wasting away due to low patronage.

Mrs. Gambo called on the government, both at the state and federal level, to come to the aid of the poultry farmers to enable them to remain in the business.

NAN, however, recalls that President Muhammadu Buhari in September last year announced the release of 30,000 tons of maize from the national reserves to animal feed producers.

The president then said the release was a direct response by the federal government to deal with the high cost of poultry production after the ban on maize imports early last year.