Poultry farmers in Lagos, lamenting the effect of the current egg glut, have appealed to the government to mop up the produce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some poultry farmers across the state said egg glut is the situation where the number of eggs in the market or produced is greater than the demand, causing an undesirable accumulation of table eggs in the farms or stores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The National Publicity Secretary of the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), Mr Godwin Egbebe, said farmers are running at a loss and appealed for government intervention at all levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to him, \u201cDue to the current egg glut, major poultry farms have now dropped their prices and are encountering total loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAt large farm gates, a crate of eggs now goes for as low as N1,700 and N1,800 as against N2,000 or N2,100 that was sold just weeks ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe egg glut is on the increase, the farmers are churning out eggs everyday but there are low demands following the cash crunch in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWith the current volume of eggs, farmers are running at a loss because eggs are disposable perishable items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat is why we are calling on the government to mop up the eggs across our farms and distribute to motherless babies homes, hospitals or even the prisons,\u201d Egbebe said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The PAN scribe blamed the current egg glut situation on the limited cash in circulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe market women are refusing transfers and some of the mobile bank apps have disappointed time and time again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On his part, Mr Mojeed Iyiola, the PAN Lagos state Chairman, said these are trying times for the poultry sector, and called on the government to come to the aid of farmers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have had to drop our prices due to the egg glut, still people do not come for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPoultry farmers have taken the eggs to the markets, yet demand is low and sales poor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe marketers and middlemen have used this opportunity to collect eggs on credit and still refuse to pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are appealing to the federal government on this issue, it is a serious case and trying times in the Poultry sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf this situation persists, our poultry sector will gradually phase off in the nearest future. It is a terrible situation in the sector now,\u201d Iyiola said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition, he said, \u201cAs an association, we have spoken to the Lagos state Commissioner for Agriculture to mop up the eggs and even give to the less privileged to help the farmers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSome states in the northern part of the country are doing likewise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA lot of poultry farmers are in dire straits presently, as they do not even have money to buy feed for their birds as the mortality rate increases daily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPoultry farmers are currently facing colossal losses,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A poultry farmer and processor, Mr Joel Oduware, blamed the Naira scarcity solely for the current egg glut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Naira scarcity has created massive glut in the sector, and the poultry industry has estimated the loss at N30 billion within the cash crunch period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Naira scarcity has negatively impacted the entire poultry sector value chain, causing a huge debt in the poultry sector as there are losses across the value chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is a loss the sector would have to bear as we have not received any compensation from the government,\u201d Oduware said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another farmer, Mr Emmanuel Iregbeyen, the CEO of Emiraz Farms, said the egg glut is negatively affecting the sector, the painful part being that the cost of feed keeps increasing daily. It is not the best of times for poultry farmers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe cash scarcity has really affected the purchasing power of Nigerians and has consequently resulted in the egg glut we are experiencing currently,\u201d Iregbeyen said.<\/p>\n\n\n
Poultry farmers in Lagos, lamenting the effect of the current egg glut, have appealed to the government to mop up the produce. Some poultry farmers across the state said egg glut is the situation where the number of eggs in the market or produced is greater than the demand, causing an undesirable accumulation of table […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3350,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1366,949],"tags":[317],"class_list":["post-49369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-economy","tag-eggs","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"yoast_head":"\n