Lagos has urged more farmers to register on its database to enable the government promote accountability in the distribution of inputs and grants.
Commissioner of Agriculture, Lagos State, Abisola Olusanya, who made the appeal at a forum with farmers, said the government was aware that farmers were shutting down operations due to the persistent hike in the price of feeds, but it was determined to establish a farmer interface for smart and well-organised agriculture aimed at extending support and providing access to market to boost their incomes.
She noted that the worsening feed crisis has spread desperation across industry with farmers threatening to abandon farms for other industries because they barely have enough money to survive.
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To pursue development goals at any level, she noted that updating the number of farmers was essential for measuring advancements and that the government would be able to know the accurate figure of those benefiting from crops, irrigation, and other infrastructure.
She noted that they were cultivators and farmers who were still not part of data system, adding it would make it difficult to address the issues that plague the state agriculture.
She said the government had offered relief to farmers, including offering subsidised high-yield seeds.
According to her, the situation of the industry calls for an urgent intervention to save the industry from total collapse, adding that the high surge in the price of feeds is threatening the further development of the industry.
Across the country, livestock operators have been closing down business because of rising prices of feeds.
Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) raised the alarm recently that the sector would crash totally if the government fails to intervene.
PAN stated that the poultry industry in Nigeria was on the verge of total collapse if urgent intervention is not channelled to it without further delay.
PAN’s National President, Sunday Ezeobiora and Director-General, Onallo Akpa, in a statement they jointly signed, said, “We are aware that the government has declared a state of emergency on the food security situation of the country, but the situation of the poultry industry calls for an urgent intervention to save the industry from total collapse.
“The high surge in the price of maize and the near absence or scarcity of the product is causing farmers to close down their poultry farms at the moment, because it is no longer sustainable to feed the birds and be in business. This is threatening the further development of the Nigerian poultry industry”.
